Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America downgraded Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $165.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Barclays upped their price target on Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.83.

Garmin Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of GRMN stock opened at $161.10 on Tuesday. Garmin has a 12 month low of $99.61 and a 12 month high of $171.64. The firm has a market cap of $30.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $161.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.49.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Garmin

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Garmin by 5.9% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 39,544 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,160,000 after buying an additional 2,212 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in Garmin by 0.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 23,102 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,430,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Garmin in the third quarter valued at about $203,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin during the third quarter valued at about $287,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 15.8% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 152,270 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $16,019,000 after purchasing an additional 20,800 shares during the last quarter. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.