Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Shares Up 2.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report) traded up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Friday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The company traded as high as $168.68 and last traded at $168.35. 27,737 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 199,852 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.93.

PLMR has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Palomar from $163.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Palomar from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Palomar in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Palomar from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Palomar from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $164.33.

Insider Activity at Palomar

In other Palomar news, CFO T Christopher Uchida sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.77, for a total transaction of $79,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,265,378.40. This represents a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mac Armstrong sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.96, for a total transaction of $809,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 392,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,551,160.48. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,202 shares of company stock valued at $3,265,129 over the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palomar

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in Palomar during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palomar by 536.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palomar by 185.3% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palomar during the first quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Palomar by 63.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 493 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. 90.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palomar Stock Up 4.6%

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $150.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.19. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 38.29 and a beta of 0.51.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $174.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.97 million. Palomar had a net margin of 21.23% and a return on equity of 19.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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.