Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has raised its price target for Garmin stock from $172.00 to $186.00, indicating a potential downside of 14.77% from the previous close, while maintaining an "underweight" rating.
• Multiple analysts have varied ratings for Garmin, with JPMorgan Chase raising its target to $250.00 and Barclays issuing an "underweight" rating with a new target of $167.00; the consensus overall rating remains at "Hold" with an average price target of $222.00.
• Garmin reported a 20.4% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, surpassing expectations with $1.81 billion and earnings per share of $2.17, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $172.00 to $186.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "underweight" rating on the scientific and technical instruments company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective indicates a potential downside of 14.77% from the company's previous close.

GRMN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Garmin from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $167.00 price target (up previously from $152.00) on shares of Garmin in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $222.00.

Garmin Price Performance

NYSE GRMN traded down $3.27 on Thursday, hitting $218.23. 552,311 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 950,013. The company's 50 day moving average price is $211.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.97. Garmin has a twelve month low of $160.71 and a twelve month high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.21% and a net margin of 22.76%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Garmin will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Garmin news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total transaction of $399,685.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 29,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,266,390. This represents a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $1,605,471.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 141,626 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,785,484.50. The trade was a 5.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Garmin by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,425,166 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $4,000,656,000 after acquiring an additional 357,458 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Garmin by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,438,796 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $913,544,000 after acquiring an additional 75,332 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Garmin by 9.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,862,153 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $404,329,000 after acquiring an additional 153,267 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Garmin by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,708,495 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $352,394,000 after acquiring an additional 286,765 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Garmin by 79.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,585,170 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $340,574,000 after acquiring an additional 700,967 shares during the period. 81.60% 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.

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