Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Stock Rating Lowered by Barclays

Barclays downgraded shares of Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research note published on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $133.00 price objective on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $181.00.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered Garmin from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Garmin from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $151.33.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of Garmin stock opened at $172.68 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $173.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.49. The firm has a market cap of $33.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.00. Garmin has a 1 year low of $99.61 and a 1 year high of $184.42.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.18. Garmin had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 17.09%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Garmin will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.16, for a total transaction of $1,781,343.80. Following the sale, the insider now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Garmin news, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Philip Straub sold 2,750 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 88,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,081,348.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,892 shares of company stock worth $2,296,174. 19.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in Garmin by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,310,112 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $939,642,000 after purchasing an additional 63,278 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in shares of Garmin by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,006,563 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $326,909,000 after buying an additional 11,666 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,735,623 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $282,761,000 after acquiring an additional 13,968 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in Garmin by 4.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,416,130 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $210,799,000 after acquiring an additional 58,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Garmin by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,291,589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $166,021,000 after acquiring an additional 54,001 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

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.