Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

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

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

Garmin Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of GRMN opened at $167.42 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $165.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin has a twelve month low of $99.61 and a twelve month high of $179.76.

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

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In other Garmin news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $379,830.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,256.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the business’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 transaction of $674,683.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,551,530.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Garmin

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake 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 worth $939,642,000 after purchasing an additional 63,278 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Garmin by 0.8% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 13,968 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its position in Garmin by 4.3% in 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 buying an additional 58,343 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,291,589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $166,021,000 after buying an additional 54,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 0.7% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 6,858 shares during the period. 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.