StockNews.com Upgrades Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) to Buy

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on GRMN. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $165.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.83.

Garmin Price Performance

NYSE GRMN opened at $170.97 on Wednesday. Garmin has a 1-year low of $99.61 and a 1-year high of $179.76. The company has a market capitalization of $32.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $166.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.10.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.18. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.09% and a net margin of 24.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. Garmin’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Garmin will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In other Garmin news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total transaction of $674,683.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,412 shares in the company, valued at $9,551,530.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total transaction of $379,830.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,256.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total value of $674,683.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,412 shares in the company, valued at $9,551,530.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Garmin

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GRMN. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in Garmin by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 14,056 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,290,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 542 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 73.41% of the stock is owned by 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.