Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR) Trading Down 6.9% Following Insider Selling

Key Points

• Palomar Holdings, Inc. shares dropped 6.9% following insider selling, trading at a low of $116.30 before rebounding to $122.41.
• Chief operating officer Rodolphe Herve sold 1,130 shares at an average price of $130.10, reducing his ownership by 58.34%.
• Despite the decline, analysts remain optimistic with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.17.

Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report) shares traded down 6.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $116.30 and last traded at $122.41. 63,949 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 274,034 shares. The stock had previously closed at $131.53.

Specifically, COO Rodolphe Herve sold 1,130 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total value of $147,013.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 807 shares of the company's stock, valued at $104,990.70. The trade was a 58.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PLMR. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Palomar from $177.00 to $151.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Palomar from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Palomar from $150.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Palomar from $163.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Palomar from $204.00 to $172.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $164.50.

Palomar Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $146.19 and a 200 day moving average of $139.80.

Palomar (NASDAQ:PLMR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.08. Palomar had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 22.71%. The company had revenue of $496.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 47.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palomar Holdings, Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palomar

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Palomar by 303.3% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 81,961 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,642,000 after purchasing an additional 61,638 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Palomar by 21.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,602 shares of the company's stock worth $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Palomar by 55.9% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,668 shares of the company's stock worth $1,800,000 after acquiring an additional 4,182 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palomar in the second quarter valued at $305,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of Palomar by 8.1% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 6,866 shares of the company's stock worth $1,059,000 after buying an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.25% of the company's stock.

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.