Insulet Co. (NASDAQ:PODD) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Insulet Co. (NASDAQ:PODD) saw a significant growth in short interest in 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 shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 652,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Insulet Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of PODD traded up $10.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $255.44. 913,451 shares of the company traded hands, 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 quick ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $272.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.96. The company has a market capitalization of $17.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.29.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.15. Insulet had a return on equity of 24.46% and a net margin of 20.19%. The business had revenue of $597.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $582.02 million. Equities research analysts predict that Insulet will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Eric Benjamin sold 12,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $3,470,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,187,240. This represents a 52.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Insulet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PODD. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Insulet in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Insulet by 633.3% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 154 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Insulet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Insulet by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 186 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Insulet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PODD has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Insulet from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Insulet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Insulet from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Insulet from $305.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Insulet from $264.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Insulet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.06.

About Insulet

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.