Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Acquires New Shares in Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT)

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd bought a new position in shares of Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,539,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Planet Fitness by 132.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,957 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 16,503 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,524,764 shares of the company's stock worth $205,061,000 after purchasing an additional 37,236 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Planet Fitness in the 3rd quarter valued at $604,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Planet Fitness in the 4th quarter valued at $18,767,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in Planet Fitness by 126.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 9,504 shares of the company's stock worth $772,000 after buying an additional 5,298 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Planet Fitness news, insider Jennifer Simmons sold 11,453 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total value of $1,101,778.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,110 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,838,382. This trade represents a 37.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.94% of the company's stock.

Planet Fitness Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE PLNT traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $107.85. 742,722 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,427,913. Planet Fitness, Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.35 and a twelve month high of $110.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.53. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $102.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.90.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company posted $0.59 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Planet Fitness, Inc. will post 2.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on PLNT. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $99.00 price target (up previously from $91.00) on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Planet Fitness from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Planet Fitness from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Planet Fitness from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Planet Fitness in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Planet Fitness currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.69.

About Planet Fitness

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.