Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

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

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barrington Research upped their target price on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a strong-buy rating and issued a $175.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $142.33.

Garmin Trading Down 0.8 %

GRMN stock opened at $141.02 on Wednesday. Garmin has a twelve month low of $94.89 and a twelve month high of $149.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.92. The company has a market capitalization of $27.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.98.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.32. Garmin had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 24.67%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Garmin will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $2,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 758,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,236,760. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Garmin news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $2,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 758,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,236,760. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total value of $349,710.66. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $969,781.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 99,476 shares of company stock worth $14,166,944. 19.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Garmin

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Guidance Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Garmin in the 1st quarter valued at about $924,000. Foguth Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new stake in Garmin in the 1st quarter valued at about $411,000. Cambridge Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 1st quarter valued at about $216,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,469,000. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Garmin by 181.1% in the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,292 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Company Profile

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.