Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Sees Strong Trading Volume - What's Next?

Key Points

• Palomar Holdings, Inc. experienced a significant surge in trading volume, with approximately 1.7 million shares traded, marking a 486% increase from the previous session.
• Several analysts upgraded Palomar's stock ratings and price targets, with JPMorgan raising its target from $115 to $150 and Jefferies increasing their target to $168.
• The company reported earnings of $1.76 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and showing a 47.6% increase in revenue year over year.

Shares of Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 1,699,424 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 486% from the previous session's volume of 289,837 shares.The stock last traded at $116.80 and had previously closed at $112.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PLMR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Palomar from $177.00 to $151.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Palomar from $204.00 to $172.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Palomar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Palomar from $150.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Palomar from $163.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $164.50.

Palomar Price Performance

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $146.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $140.06. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16 and a beta of 0.44.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.08. Palomar had a net margin of 22.71% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The firm had revenue of $496.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.86 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 47.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Palomar Holdings, Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palomar

In other news, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 5,000 shares of Palomar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.96, for a total value of $809,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 392,388 shares in the company, valued at $63,551,160.48. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Rodolphe Herve sold 1,130 shares of Palomar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total transaction of $147,013.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 807 shares in the company, valued at $104,990.70. This trade represents a 58.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,294 shares of company stock worth $3,208,102. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palomar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palomar in the first quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palomar by 2.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,732,000 after purchasing an additional 3,697 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palomar in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,327,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Palomar by 8.7% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the company's stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Palomar by 17.0% during the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 532,554 shares of the company's stock worth $73,003,000 after buying an additional 77,472 shares during the last quarter. 90.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.