Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Stock Price

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 target increased by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $172.00 to $186.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "underweight" rating on the scientific and technical instruments company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would suggest a potential downside of 16.23% from the company's current price.

GRMN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $167.00 target price (up previously from $152.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $222.00.

Garmin Stock Performance

Garmin stock traded up $3.30 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $222.03. The stock had a trading volume of 68,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 951,677. Garmin has a twelve month low of $160.71 and a twelve month high of $246.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.74 billion, a PE ratio of 27.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.99. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $212.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.95.

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. Garmin had a return on equity of 20.00% and a net margin of 23.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Garmin will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Garmin news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 141,626 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,785,484.50. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total value of $399,685.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,266,390. The trade was a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Garmin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GRMN. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Garmin by 25,047.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 885,456 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $192,259,000 after acquiring an additional 881,935 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Garmin by 79.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,585,170 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $340,574,000 after acquiring an additional 700,967 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of Garmin by 673.4% during the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 441,318 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $95,823,000 after acquiring an additional 384,258 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin during the first quarter worth about $78,900,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Garmin by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,425,166 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $4,000,656,000 after acquiring an additional 357,458 shares during the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.