Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,820,000 shares, a drop of 25.8% from the October 31st total of 3,800,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,160,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Planet Fitness

In other Planet Fitness news, insider Jennifer Simmons sold 11,453 shares of the business’s 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 owns 19,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,838,382. The trade was a 37.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 5.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PLNT. Dorsal Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 7.7% in the second quarter. Dorsal Capital Management LP now owns 2,907,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,940,000 after acquiring an additional 207,193 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Planet Fitness by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,524,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,061,000 after purchasing an additional 37,236 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Planet Fitness in the 2nd quarter worth about $166,978,000. Anomaly Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Planet Fitness during the 2nd quarter worth about $106,795,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Planet Fitness by 169.8% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,317,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,985,000 after buying an additional 829,509 shares during the last quarter. 95.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Planet Fitness Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of PLNT traded down $1.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $99.55. The stock had a trading volume of 404,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,338,169. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.73. The firm has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.49. Planet Fitness has a fifty-two week low of $54.35 and a fifty-two week high of $102.81.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Planet Fitness from $73.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Planet Fitness from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 price target (up from $91.00) on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Planet Fitness in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Planet Fitness from $87.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.38.

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.