Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) had its target price raised by Barclays from $158.00 to $188.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on GRMN. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $206.80.

Garmin Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:GRMN opened at $224.67 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $213.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.51. The stock has a market cap of $43.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin has a fifty-two week low of $131.20 and a fifty-two week high of $246.50.

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

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.04%.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.99, for a total value of $366,270.39. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Garmin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Garmin by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,863 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp grew its position in Garmin by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 3,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $802,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Garmin by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 241 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in Garmin by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 522 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,821 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.