Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Position in Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,076,794 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 196,809 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Planet Fitness worth $589,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Planet Fitness by 247.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Planet Fitness during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Planet Fitness by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Planet Fitness by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Planet Fitness by 169.6% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.53% of the company’s stock.

Planet Fitness Stock Performance

PLNT opened at $73.01 on Tuesday. Planet Fitness, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.13 and a 52-week high of $75.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a PE ratio of 41.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.37.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.04. Planet Fitness had a negative return on equity of 140.14% and a net margin of 13.66%. The firm had revenue of $248.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Planet Fitness, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Planet Fitness from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $80.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Planet Fitness in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Planet Fitness from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Planet Fitness from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Planet Fitness from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.64.

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.