Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $218.07, but opened at $189.24. Garmin shares last traded at $185.35, with a volume of 419,350 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Garmin presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.80.

Garmin Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $36.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $217.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.69.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. Garmin’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Garmin’s payout ratio is 49.25%.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In other Garmin news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total value of $625,957.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,550.80. The trade was a 8.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $609,677.79. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. This trade represents a 25.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094 in the last quarter. 19.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Garmin

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GRMN. Passumpsic Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Garmin in the third quarter valued at about $3,137,000. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at about $734,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 431,188 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $88,937,000 after purchasing an additional 128,672 shares in the last quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 148,957 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $30,724,000 after purchasing an additional 4,616 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Garmin by 1,580.3% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 287,283 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $50,570,000 after purchasing an additional 270,186 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.