Short Interest in Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ:PODD) Rises By 19.3%

Key Points

• Short interest in Insulet rose 19.3% to 3,049,595 shares as of March 31, representing about 4.4% of shares outstanding and a short-interest ratio of 3.5 days.
• Q1 beat: Insulet reported $1.55 EPS vs. $1.48 expected and revenue of $783.8M (+31.2% YoY), while trading with a market cap of $14.11B and a high P/E (~58), signaling strong growth but a rich valuation.
• Analysts have a consensus "Moderate Buy" (19 buys, 4 holds, 1 sell) with an average target of $334.38, institutional investors like Norges Bank and AQR have added large positions, and an insider purchased 2,030 shares in February.

Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ:PODD - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,049,595 shares, a growth of 19.3% from the March 15th total of 2,555,922 shares. Approximately 4.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 865,626 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Insulet Price Performance

NASDAQ:PODD traded up $2.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $203.73. 864,511 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 814,618. The business's 50-day moving average price is $227.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.74. The company has a market cap of $14.11 billion, a PE ratio of 58.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. Insulet has a 12-month low of $194.61 and a 12-month high of $354.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Insulet (NASDAQ:PODD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.07. Insulet had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The company had revenue of $783.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $768.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Insulet's revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Insulet will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PODD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Insulet from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Insulet in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Insulet from $370.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Insulet in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Insulet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Insulet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $334.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Insulet

In other Insulet news, Director Michael R. Minogue bought 2,030 shares of Insulet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $246.23 per share, for a total transaction of $499,846.90. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 17,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,304,839.09. This trade represents a 13.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Insulet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PODD. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Insulet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $300,794,000. RTW Investments LP purchased a new position in Insulet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,264,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Insulet by 161.6% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 459,115 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $130,499,000 after buying an additional 283,643 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Insulet by 712.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 318,848 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $66,907,000 after buying an additional 279,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Insulet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $80,082,000.

About Insulet

Insulet Corporation is a medical device company headquartered in Acton, Massachusetts, that develops, manufactures and sells insulin-delivery systems for people with diabetes. The company's core business is the design and commercialization of its Omnipod family of tubeless, wearable insulin pumps and the consumable Pods that deliver insulin. Insulet's products aim to simplify insulin delivery for people with type 1 diabetes and insulin-requiring type 2 diabetes by offering an alternative to traditional insulin pens and tethered pump systems.

The company's product portfolio includes the Omnipod System line—disposable, waterproof Pods that adhere to the skin and deliver insulin—and the associated controllers and mobile applications used to program and monitor insulin delivery.

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