Lazard Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR)

Lazard Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR - Free Report) by 51.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,961 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,129 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Palomar were worth $416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Palomar by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,574,923 shares of the company's stock worth $271,886,000 after acquiring an additional 53,123 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Palomar by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 785,419 shares of the company's stock worth $82,932,000 after purchasing an additional 210,523 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Palomar by 3.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Palomar by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 561,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,313,000 after buying an additional 17,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Palomar by 39.4% during 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 buying an additional 122,057 shares in the last quarter. 90.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PLMR has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Palomar from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Palomar from $150.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Palomar from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Palomar from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Palomar from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $148.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palomar news, CFO T Christopher Uchida sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.00, for a total transaction of $139,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,172 shares in the company, valued at $1,413,908. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.72, for a total transaction of $648,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 402,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,197,771.36. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,202 shares of company stock worth $3,265,129 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palomar Price Performance

Shares of PLMR stock opened at $160.82 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $146.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.90 and a beta of 0.51. Palomar Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.28 and a 12 month high of $165.00.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $174.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.97 million. Palomar had a return on equity of 19.76% and a net margin of 21.23%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palomar Holdings, Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

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.

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