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

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

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective 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 lowered Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.83.

Garmin Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE GRMN opened at $161.26 on Tuesday. Garmin has a twelve month low of $99.61 and a twelve month high of $171.64. The company has a market capitalization of $30.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.48.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Garmin will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Garmin

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 3.3% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Garmin by 17.6% in the first 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. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Garmin by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,168 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in Garmin by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,518 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Folios Inc increased its position in Garmin by 3.5% during the first quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,768 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 73.41% of the stock is currently 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.