Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in Insulet Co. (NASDAQ:PODD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Insulet Co. (NASDAQ:PODD) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,965 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 245 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Insulet worth $22,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in shares of Insulet by 20.7% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,275,701 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $529,669,000 after acquiring an additional 389,639 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Insulet by 5,928.1% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 325,821 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $75,835,000 after acquiring an additional 320,416 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Insulet by 43.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 636,265 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $148,091,000 after acquiring an additional 193,839 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in shares of Insulet by 27.6% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 754,872 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $175,697,000 after acquiring an additional 163,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in shares of Insulet during the third quarter worth $16,342,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Insulet from $245.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $328.00 price objective (up previously from $294.00) on shares of Insulet in a research report on Friday. Barclays increased their price objective on Insulet from $220.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Insulet from $234.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price objective on Insulet from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Insulet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $289.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Lauren Budden sold 915 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.62, for a total transaction of $252,192.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,580,129.46. This represents a 13.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Eric Benjamin sold 12,394 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $3,470,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,187,240. The trade was a 52.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Insulet Stock Performance

Insulet stock opened at $282.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 3.68 and a quick ratio of 2.80. Insulet Co. has a 1-year low of $160.19 and a 1-year high of $289.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day moving average is $272.98 and its 200 day moving average is $247.87.

Insulet (NASDAQ:PODD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.15 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $582.02 million. Insulet had a net margin of 20.19% and a return on equity of 24.46%. Research analysts forecast that Insulet Co. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Insulet 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.