Planet Fitness stock slips. CEO Chris Rondeau bought shares.

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Planet Fitness

the stock was benched in 2023, but CEO Chris Rondeau just picked up shares of the fitness center chain.

Planet Fitness (ticker: PLNT) stock had been moderately higher for 2023 when a disappointing first-quarter report in early May sent stocks tumbling. President and COO Edward Hymes, who joined the company in December, left on May 31, and the company said it does not plan to fill the position “at this time”.

Planet Fitness stock is now down 15% year-to-date.

Buying stocks on the open market is a tactic executives can use to restore investor confidence after soft numbers or a reshuffle in the boardroom, or both. On Monday, Rondeau pulled that lever, paying $650,000 for 10,000 shares, an average price of $64.99 each. He bought the shares through a trust that now owns 36,305 shares.

Planet Fitness did not respond to a request that Rondeau be made available to comment on its stock purchases. Rondeau, whose first job at Planet Fitness was behind a reception at the first location 30 years ago, last bought stock on the open market in March 2020 when he purchased $4 million worth of stock.

Stocks rose last week, but there may have been more to it than Rondeau’s stock buying. S&P Dow Jones Indices said on June 2 that Planet Fitness would join the

S&P MidCap 400
index in the consumer discretionary category, starting June 19. Stocks typically rise when they join an index because investors expect funds that track those indexes to buy those stocks.

Inside Scoop is a regular Barron column that covers the stock trading of corporate executives and board members – the so-called insiders – as well as major shareholders, politicians and other high profile figures. Because of their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades to the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write to Ed Lin at edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin.