Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Hits New 52-Week High Following Strong Earnings

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $127.07 and last traded at $125.26, with a volume of 80769 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $108.99.

The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.13. Palomar had a return on equity of 19.65% and a net margin of 21.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Palomar from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Palomar from $112.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Palomar from $120.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Palomar in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Palomar from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $124.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO T Christopher Uchida sold 394 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.69, for a total value of $40,065.86. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela L. Grant sold 1,505 shares of Palomar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.86, for a total value of $159,319.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,534 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $268,249.24. This trade represents a 37.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,933 shares of company stock valued at $4,030,156. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palomar

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

Palomar Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.07. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15 and a beta of 0.38.

About Palomar

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.