Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on GRMN. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barrington Research upped their price objective on shares of Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a strong-buy rating and issued a $175.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $142.33.

Garmin Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE GRMN opened at $139.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin has a 12-month low of $94.89 and a 12-month high of $149.54. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.27.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.32. Garmin had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. Garmin’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Garmin will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $2,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 758,834 shares in the company, valued at $106,236,760. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 5,267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $708,727.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,360 shares in the company, valued at $4,085,241.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $2,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 758,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,236,760. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 99,476 shares of company stock worth $14,166,944. Insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Garmin

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in Garmin by 17.6% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 542 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Garmin by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,168 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in Garmin by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,518 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Insight Folios Inc boosted its position in Garmin by 3.5% during the first quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,768 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Garmin by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,189 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Company Profile

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.