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

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

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. 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. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a strong-buy rating and issued a $175.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $142.33.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of GRMN stock opened at $142.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.24, a PEG ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.10. Garmin has a 1 year low of $94.89 and a 1 year high of $149.54.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.32. Garmin had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 24.67%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Garmin will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.52%.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In other news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $2,233,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 653,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,349,344.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Garmin news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total transaction of $2,233,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 653,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,349,344.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were 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 approximately $969,781.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944 over the last 90 days. 19.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Garmin by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,310,112 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $939,642,000 after acquiring an additional 63,278 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,715,703 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $220,541,000 after purchasing an additional 45,242 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 7.1% in 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 buying an additional 108,427 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Garmin by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,411,205 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $148,459,000 after buying an additional 136,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position 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 buying an additional 54,001 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.