Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Downgraded by StockNews.com

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Barrington Research increased their price objective on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.50.

Garmin Trading Up 1.3 %

Garmin stock opened at $169.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.52. Garmin has a 1-year low of $99.61 and a 1-year high of $170.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.99.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Garmin will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total value of $217,656.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total value of $217,656.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 159,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total transaction of $349,710.66. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $969,781.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 99,476 shares of company stock worth $14,166,944. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Garmin

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GRMN. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,715,703 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $220,541,000 after acquiring an additional 45,242 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 7.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,630,148 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $171,492,000 after purchasing an additional 108,427 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Garmin by 10.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,411,205 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $148,459,000 after purchasing an additional 136,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in Garmin by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,291,589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $166,021,000 after purchasing an additional 54,001 shares during the period. 73.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.