Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Bank of America lowered Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $165.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.33.

Garmin Stock Performance

GRMN opened at $172.68 on Thursday. Garmin has a one year low of $99.61 and a one year high of $184.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $173.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.14.

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

Insider Activity at Garmin

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Garmin

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GRMN. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter worth about $54,460,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Garmin by 136.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 711,849 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $115,177,000 after purchasing an additional 411,084 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Garmin in the second quarter valued at about $45,999,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Garmin by 34.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,098,443 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $178,958,000 after purchasing an additional 278,990 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Garmin in the first quarter valued at about $38,727,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.