Analysts Set Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Price Target at $195.67

Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $206.80.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GRMN. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.99, for a total value of $366,270.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,743,019.88. This trade represents a 6.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Garmin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its stake in shares of Garmin by 864.3% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 135 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Garmin by 578.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Price Performance

GRMN opened at $224.67 on Friday. Garmin has a 1 year low of $131.20 and a 1 year high of $246.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.73. The firm has a market cap of $43.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Garmin will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Garmin’s payout ratio is 41.04%.

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.