28,148 Shares in Planet Fitness, Inc. $PLNT Acquired by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased 28,148 shares of Planet Fitness, Inc. valued at approximately $2.7 million in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors own 95.53% of Planet Fitness stock, with notable recent investments from Driehaus Capital Management and T. Rowe Price Investment Management.
• The stock has a current price target consensus of $108.64, with a majority of analysts rating it as a "Moderate Buy".

Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 28,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,719,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLNT. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Planet Fitness by 358.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,211,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $213,618,000 after buying an additional 1,728,407 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Planet Fitness by 62.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,289,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $317,810,000 after buying an additional 1,268,262 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in Planet Fitness by 61.1% in the 1st quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,124,679 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,265,000 after buying an additional 806,023 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Planet Fitness during the 1st quarter worth approximately $54,384,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,407,128 shares of the company's stock worth $812,213,000 after purchasing an additional 496,047 shares in the last quarter. 95.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PLNT. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $126.00 target price on shares of Planet Fitness and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $120.00 target price on shares of Planet Fitness and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $108.64.

Planet Fitness Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:PLNT traded down $1.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $101.35. The stock had a trading volume of 985,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,469,110. Planet Fitness, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.77 and a fifty-two week high of $114.47. The company has a market capitalization of $8.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.37. The company's 50-day moving average price is $107.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.03.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.07. Planet Fitness had a negative return on equity of 110.18% and a net margin of 15.11%.The business had revenue of $340.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Planet Fitness's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Planet Fitness, Inc. will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.