Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Raises Stake in Planet Fitness, Inc. $PLNT

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Planet Fitness, raising its holdings by 62.7% to approximately 3.29 million shares valued at $317.8 million.
• Several institutional investors, including T. Rowe Price and Invesco, have also boosted their positions significantly, contributing to 95.53% of Planet Fitness's ownership being held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Planet Fitness has received positive ratings from analysts, maintaining an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $107.38, with various analysts setting target prices between $95.00 and $126.00.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT - Free Report) by 62.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,289,606 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,268,262 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 3.89% of Planet Fitness worth $317,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Planet Fitness during the 4th quarter worth $25,676,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,503 shares of the company's stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,245 shares of the company's stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Planet Fitness during the 4th quarter worth $2,988,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 359,755 shares of the company's stock worth $34,756,000 after buying an additional 8,025 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.53% of the company's stock.

Planet Fitness Trading Down 1.6%

PLNT traded down $1.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $105.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 141,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,483,165. The firm has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.73, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $108.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.89. Planet Fitness, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.77 and a 52-week high of $114.47.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

PLNT has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $120.00 price target on Planet Fitness and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Planet Fitness from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $126.00 price objective on Planet Fitness and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.38.

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.