Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) Short Interest Down 20.0% in July

Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,040,000 shares, a decline of 20.0% from the July 15th total of 6,300,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Insider Activity at Planet Fitness

In related news, CAO Brian O’donnell sold 6,424 shares of Planet Fitness stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.39, for a total value of $497,153.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,778 shares in the company, valued at $524,549.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Planet Fitness

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Planet Fitness by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,174,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,976,000 after purchasing an additional 97,823 shares during the period. Cadian Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Planet Fitness by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Cadian Capital Management LP now owns 4,430,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,417,000 after purchasing an additional 386,861 shares during the period. Dorsal Capital Management LP grew its holdings 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 valued at $213,940,000 after purchasing an additional 207,193 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Planet Fitness by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,592,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,345,000 after buying an additional 66,139 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Planet Fitness during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $166,978,000. 95.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PLNT. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Planet Fitness in a research note on Friday, June 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Planet Fitness from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Planet Fitness from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Planet Fitness from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Planet Fitness from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $80.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.87.

Planet Fitness Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PLNT traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $80.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 559,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,911. Planet Fitness has a twelve month low of $44.13 and a twelve month high of $81.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a PE ratio of 45.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.41 and a 200 day moving average of $67.24.

Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $300.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.17 million. Planet Fitness had a negative return on equity of 121.99% and a net margin of 14.16%. Planet Fitness’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Planet Fitness will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Planet Fitness Company Profile

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.