Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $147.44 and last traded at $146.4260, with a volume of 71843 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $142.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on PLMR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Palomar from $186.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of Palomar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Palomar from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Palomar from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Palomar from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palomar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.75.

Palomar Stock Up 0.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $115.91 and a 200-day moving average of $122.94.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.14. Palomar had a return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 20.11%.The business had revenue of $278.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $557.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.87 EPS. Palomar’s quarterly revenue was up 59.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Palomar Holdings, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palomar

In related news, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.96, for a total transaction of $395,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 329,388 shares in the company, valued at $37,207,668.48. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Timothy Carter sold 480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.29, for a total value of $59,659.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,564.30. The trade was a 22.33% decrease in their position. 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 sold a total of 22,977 shares of company stock worth $2,933,488 over the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palomar

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PLMR. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised 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 worth $107,237,000 after buying an additional 568,360 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Palomar by 290.2% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 497,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,675,000 after acquiring an additional 369,697 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Palomar by 72.1% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 785,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,809,000 after acquiring an additional 328,993 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Palomar by 290.5% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 308,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,605,000 after acquiring an additional 229,681 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palomar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $23,317,000. Institutional investors own 90.25% of the company’s stock.

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.