Artemis Investment Management LLP Buys New Stake in Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT)

Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 189,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,767,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PLNT. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Planet Fitness by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in Planet Fitness by 174.7% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Planet Fitness by 396.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Planet Fitness during the fourth quarter worth about $240,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Planet Fitness during the third quarter worth about $200,000. 95.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Planet Fitness

In related news, insider Jennifer Simmons sold 11,453 shares of Planet Fitness stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $1,101,778.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,838,382. The trade was a 37.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PLNT shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Planet Fitness from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 target price (up from $91.00) on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Planet Fitness from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Friday, September 27th. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Planet Fitness from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Planet Fitness presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.69.

Planet Fitness Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of PLNT stock opened at $104.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.66. The company has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.52. Planet Fitness, Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.35 and a 12-month high of $107.68.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $292.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.79 million. Planet Fitness had a negative return on equity of 107.97% and a net margin of 14.23%. Planet Fitness’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Planet Fitness, Inc. will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Planet Fitness

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.