StockNews.com Lowers Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday.

GRMN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Bank of America lowered shares of Garmin from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and cut their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Garmin has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $156.83.

Garmin Trading Up 0.2 %

GRMN opened at $167.42 on Wednesday. Garmin has a 1-year low of $99.61 and a 1-year high of $179.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.87. The company has a market capitalization of $32.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.98.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.18. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.09% and a net margin of 24.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Garmin will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.31%.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total transaction of $674,683.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,551,530.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total value of $674,683.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,551,530.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total value of $379,830.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,256.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,310,112 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $939,642,000 after purchasing an additional 63,278 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Garmin by 0.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,735,623 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $282,761,000 after acquiring an additional 13,968 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Garmin by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,416,130 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $210,799,000 after acquiring an additional 58,343 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Garmin by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,291,589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $166,021,000 after purchasing an additional 54,001 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 932,299 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $119,838,000 after purchasing an additional 6,858 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

About Garmin

Garmin Ltd. designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of wireless devices worldwide. Its Fitness segment offers running and multi-sport watches; cycling products; smartwatch devices; scales and monitors; and fitness accessories. This segment also provides Garmin Connect and Garmin Connect Mobile, which are web and mobile platforms where users can track and analyze their fitness, activities and workouts, and wellness data; and Connect IQ, an application development platform.