Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Shares Gap Down to $182.76

Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $182.76, but opened at $173.22. Garmin shares last traded at $171.13, with a volume of 274,127 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on GRMN. Barclays cut shares of Garmin from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $181.00 to $133.00 in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.33.

Garmin Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.32. The company has a market capitalization of $33.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.00.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.09% and a net margin of 24.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In other news, Director Philip Straub sold 2,750 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.46, for a total value of $499,015.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 88,622 shares in the company, valued at $16,081,348.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Garmin news, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.16, for a total value of $1,781,343.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,257,359.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Philip Straub sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.46, for a total transaction of $499,015.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 88,622 shares in the company, valued at $16,081,348.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,892 shares of company stock worth $2,296,174 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Garmin

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Garmin in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Garmin during the second quarter worth $35,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Garmin by 73.3% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 234 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

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.