Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $222.97 and last traded at $221.15, with a volume of 49300 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $219.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Garmin from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Garmin from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Garmin from $133.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.67.

Garmin Stock Down 2.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $41.47 billion, a PE ratio of 27.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $194.68 and a 200-day moving average of $178.51.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.53. Garmin had a net margin of 25.48% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. Garmin’s revenue was up 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sean Biddlecombe sold 587 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.10, for a total value of $123,328.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,291,484.70. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Garmin

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Garmin in the second quarter worth $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Garmin by 578.6% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 190 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Garmin in the second quarter worth $35,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Garmin by 73.3% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 234 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Garmin during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. 81.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.