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

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America cut shares of Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of 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. lifted their price objective on shares of Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Garmin has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.83.

Garmin Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE GRMN traded up $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $170.00. 530,145 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 853,650. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.97. Garmin has a 52-week low of $99.61 and a 52-week high of $179.76.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total value of $379,830.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,010 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,256.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total value of $674,683.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,551,530.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Garmin

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Wealth Services bought a new position in Garmin in the fourth quarter worth about $2,365,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in Garmin by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 30,041 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,861,000 after purchasing an additional 6,939 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Garmin in the first quarter worth about $1,389,000. LBP AM SA raised its holdings in Garmin by 81.4% in the first quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 7,284 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in Garmin by 3.5% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 173,715 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $25,861,000 after purchasing an additional 5,945 shares in the last quarter. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.