Piper Sandler Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) Stock

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) had its target price upped by Piper Sandler from $115.00 to $123.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 20.15% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Planet Fitness from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Planet Fitness from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Planet Fitness in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on Planet Fitness from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Planet Fitness from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.13.

Planet Fitness Price Performance

Shares of Planet Fitness stock traded up $2.13 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $102.37. The company had a trading volume of 391,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 699,584. The company’s 50-day moving average is $96.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.68. Planet Fitness has a twelve month low of $54.35 and a twelve month high of $102.90. The company has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.52.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. Planet Fitness had a negative return on equity of 107.97% and a net margin of 14.23%. The business had revenue of $292.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.79 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Planet Fitness will post 2.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Simmons sold 11,453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $1,101,778.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,110 shares in the company, valued at $1,838,382. This represents a 37.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 5.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Planet Fitness

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PLNT. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Planet Fitness by 174.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Planet Fitness by 69.8% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 489 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 396.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Planet Fitness in the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Planet Fitness during the 3rd quarter valued at $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.53% of the company’s stock.

Planet Fitness Company Profile

Planet Fitness, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates fitness centers under the Planet Fitness brand. The company operates through three segments: Franchise, Corporate-Owned Stores, and Equipment. The company is involved in franchising business in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Panama, Mexico, and Australia.