Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $136.90 and last traded at $128.89, with a volume of 325146 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $127.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PLMR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Palomar from $136.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Palomar from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Palomar from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Palomar from $112.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Palomar in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.33.

Palomar Stock Up 1.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 28.77 and a beta of 0.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $112.17 and its 200 day moving average is $104.01.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Palomar

In other news, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.76, for a total transaction of $768,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 412,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,263,706.88. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO T Christopher Uchida sold 394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.69, for a total transaction of $40,065.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,722,933.67. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,485 shares of company stock worth $4,098,195 over the last 90 days. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palomar

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palomar by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 785,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,932,000 after acquiring an additional 210,523 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palomar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,637,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Palomar by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 432,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,622,000 after purchasing an additional 122,057 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Palomar in the third quarter worth $10,994,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Palomar in the fourth quarter worth $11,774,000. 90.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.