Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Palomar Holdings, Inc. $PLMR

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR) by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 694,317 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 114,859 shares during the quarter. Palomar accounts for about 1.2% of Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Palomar were worth $93,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palomar in the fourth quarter worth $206,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palomar in the fourth quarter worth $443,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Palomar in the fourth quarter worth $354,000. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Palomar in the fourth quarter worth $2,318,000. Finally, F m Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Palomar by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. F m Investments LLC now owns 49,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,693,000 after buying an additional 7,529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.25% of the company’s stock.

Palomar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLMR opened at $110.78 on Friday. Palomar Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.51 and a fifty-two week high of $175.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43 and a beta of 0.49.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.14. Palomar had a net margin of 20.11% and a return on equity of 22.62%. The firm had revenue of $278.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $557.79 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.87 earnings per share. Palomar’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Palomar Holdings, Inc. will post 8.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palomar

In other Palomar news, CFO T Christopher Uchida sold 783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.04, for a total value of $100,255.32. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,846.08. The trade was a 5.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Jon Christianson sold 1,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.62, for a total transaction of $249,136.94. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 65,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,478,501.78. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 16,720 shares of company stock valued at $2,120,817 in the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PLMR. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Palomar from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Palomar from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Palomar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Palomar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Palomar from $186.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palomar presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $150.25.

Palomar Company Profile

Palomar Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: PLMR) is a specialty insurance holding company focused on providing medical stop-loss coverage and related administrative services to self-funded employer health plans in the United States. The firm operates through two primary business segments—Medical Stop-Loss and Specialty Program Management—to deliver tailored risk protection and comprehensive program administration.

In its Medical Stop-Loss segment, Palomar underwrites excess and aggregate stop-loss policies designed to shield self-insured employers from catastrophic medical claims that exceed pre-determined retention levels.