Insulet Co. (NASDAQ:PODD) Short Interest Update

Insulet Co. (NASDAQ:PODD) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,870,000 shares, a growth of 32.9% from the February 13th total of 2,160,000 shares. Approximately 4.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 652,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Insulet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PODD traded up $10.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $255.44. The company had a trading volume of 913,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 690,263. Insulet has a 12 month low of $160.19 and a 12 month high of $289.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 3.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.96.

Insulet (NASDAQ:PODD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $597.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $582.02 million. Insulet had a net margin of 20.19% and a return on equity of 24.46%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Insulet will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on PODD. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Insulet from $245.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Insulet in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $340.00 price objective on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Insulet from $304.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Insulet from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Insulet from $264.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.06.

Insider Activity at Insulet

In other news, EVP Eric Benjamin sold 12,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $3,470,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,187,240. This represents a 52.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in Insulet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,355,683 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $614,998,000 after buying an additional 79,982 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Insulet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,779,167 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $463,347,000 after purchasing an additional 40,566 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Insulet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $248,806,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Insulet by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 770,188 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $201,073,000 after purchasing an additional 149,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in Insulet by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 754,872 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $175,697,000 after purchasing an additional 163,388 shares during the period.

Insulet Company Profile

Insulet Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells insulin delivery systems for people with insulin-dependent diabetes. The company's Omnipod platform includes the Omnipod 5 Automated Insulin Delivery System (Omnipod 5) which includes a proprietary AID algorithm embedded in the Pod that integrates with a third-party continuous glucose monitor to obtain glucose values through wireless bluetooth communication; Omnipod DASH that features a bluetooth enabled Pod that is controlled by a smartphone-like Personal Diabetes Manager with a color touch screen user interface; and Omnipod GO, a standalone, wearable, insulin delivery system that provides a fixed rate of continuous rapid-acting insulin for 72 hours.