Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on GRMN. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Garmin from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Garmin has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $156.83.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GRMN opened at $179.76 on Tuesday. Garmin has a one year low of $99.61 and a one year high of $180.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $167.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.41.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.18. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.09% and a net margin of 24.36%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Garmin will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Garmin’s payout ratio is presently 42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In related news, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.16, for a total value of $1,781,343.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 40,965 shares in the company, valued at $7,257,359.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Garmin news, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.16, for a total value of $1,781,343.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,965 shares in the company, valued at $7,257,359.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total value of $674,683.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,551,530.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,531 shares of company stock valued at $2,835,858 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Garmin

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Garmin in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Garmin by 73.3% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 234 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Garmin during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. 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.