Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial restated a strong-buy rating and set a $175.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barrington Research upped their price objective on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Garmin from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $142.33.

Garmin Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:GRMN traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $146.08. 507,836 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 932,421. The company's 50 day moving average is $138.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.02 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin has a 52 week low of $94.89 and a 52 week high of $149.54.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 24.67%. The company's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Garmin will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Garmin's payout ratio is 43.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total value of $217,656.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,379,016.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total transaction of $217,656.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,379,016.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total value of $349,710.66. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $969,781.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944. Company insiders own 19.89% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Garmin

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Garmin in the fourth quarter worth approximately $144,641,000. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Garmin by 108.1% during the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,868,540 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $188,573,000 after acquiring an additional 970,527 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Garmin by 195.2% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 987,042 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $117,073,000 after acquiring an additional 652,700 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,460,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Garmin by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,276,118 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $2,049,121,000 after acquiring an additional 365,713 shares during the last quarter. 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.