Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $24.74 Million Position in Insulet Co. (NASDAQ:PODD)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its stake in shares of Insulet Co. (NASDAQ:PODD) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 94,759 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 7,604 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Insulet were worth $24,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in Insulet by 3.5% during the fourth 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 lifted its stake in Insulet by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,738,601 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $403,339,000 after purchasing an additional 22,850 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Insulet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,806,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in Insulet by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 770,188 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $201,073,000 after buying an additional 149,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Insulet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 646,959 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $168,902,000 after buying an additional 10,694 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PODD shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Insulet from $304.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $328.00 price target (up previously from $294.00) on shares of Insulet in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Insulet from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Insulet from $245.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Insulet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Insulet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.06.

Insulet Stock Up 4.5 %

PODD opened at $256.23 on Tuesday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $269.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.99. Insulet Co. has a 52 week low of $160.19 and a 52 week high of $289.46. The stock has a market cap of $17.99 billion, a PE ratio of 44.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Wayne A.I. Frederick sold 1,825 shares of Insulet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $501,875.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,231 shares in the company, valued at $888,525. The trade was a 36.10 % 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $3,470,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,187,240. This trade represents a 52.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.