Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $147.44 and last traded at $146.4260, with a volume of 71843 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $142.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLMR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Palomar from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Palomar from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Palomar from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Palomar from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Palomar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palomar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.50.

Palomar Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $278.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $557.79 million. Palomar had a net margin of 20.11% and a return on equity of 22.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 59.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palomar Holdings, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palomar news, President Jon Christianson sold 6,863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.50, for a total value of $957,388.50. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 66,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,273,681. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Timothy Carter sold 480 shares of Palomar stock in a transaction on Sunday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.29, for a total transaction of $59,659.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,564.30. This trade represents a 22.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 22,977 shares of company stock valued at $2,933,488 over the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palomar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Palomar by 250.1% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 795,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,237,000 after acquiring an additional 568,360 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Palomar by 290.2% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 497,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,675,000 after purchasing an additional 369,697 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palomar by 72.1% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 785,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,809,000 after purchasing an additional 328,993 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Palomar by 290.5% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 308,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,605,000 after purchasing an additional 229,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Palomar in the 1st quarter valued at $23,317,000. 90.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Palomar

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.