Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $139.21 and last traded at $137.08, with a volume of 328720 shares. The stock had previously closed at $136.77.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PLMR. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Palomar in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Palomar from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Palomar from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Palomar from $112.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.83.

Palomar Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.60 and a beta of 0.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.54.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.13. Palomar had a return on equity of 19.76% and a net margin of 21.23%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palomar Holdings, Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Angela L. Grant sold 1,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.86, for a total transaction of $159,319.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $268,249.24. The trade was a 37.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO T Christopher Uchida sold 864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.86, for a total value of $91,463.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,830,107.68. This represents a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,455 shares of company stock valued at $4,050,340 in the last quarter. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palomar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PLMR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palomar by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,574,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,886,000 after buying an additional 53,123 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Palomar by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,097,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,919,000 after acquiring an additional 32,151 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Palomar by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 785,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,932,000 after purchasing an additional 210,523 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palomar by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 618,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,358,000 after purchasing an additional 18,748 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Palomar by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 561,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,313,000 after purchasing an additional 17,320 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.25% of the company’s stock.

Palomar Company Profile

Palomar Holdings, Inc, a specialty insurance company, provides property and casualty insurance to residential and businesses in the United States. The company offers personal and commercial specialty property insurance products, including residential and commercial earthquake, fronting, commercial all risk, specialty homeowners, inland marine, Hawaii hurricane, and residential flood, as well as other products, such as assumed reinsurance.