JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) Stock

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has increased Trimble's price target from $96.00 to $98.00, indicating a potential upside of 19.79% from its previous close.
• Trimble recently reported an EPS of $0.71, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.63, with a revenue of $875.70 million for the quarter, representing a year-over-year growth of 0.6%.
• Insider trading activity reveals that both the VP and CEO sold significant shares of the company, with insiders collectively selling 222,992 shares valued at approximately $18.6 million over the past three months.

Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $96.00 to $98.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the scientific and technical instruments company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.32% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on TRMB. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Trimble from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $93.00 price target (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Trimble in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Trimble from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seven have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $90.75.

Trimble Stock Performance

TRMB traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $82.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 278,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,555,115. Trimble has a 52-week low of $52.91 and a 52-week high of $87.50. The company's fifty day moving average price is $82.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.26. The company has a market capitalization of $19.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $875.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $835.81 million. Trimble had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 8.02%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Trimble will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Trimble

In other news, Director James Calvin Dalton sold 609 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.41, for a total transaction of $50,187.69. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,809 shares in the company, valued at $1,137,999.69. This represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert G. Painter sold 115,781 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.83, for a total value of $9,590,140.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 114,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,515,427.57. The trade was a 50.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 230,357 shares of company stock worth $19,181,521. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Trimble

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Trimble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $198,583,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Trimble in the 1st quarter valued at about $122,070,000. Generation Investment Management LLP boosted its position in Trimble by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 9,019,663 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $685,314,000 after buying an additional 1,449,315 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Trimble by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,978,106 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $458,113,000 after buying an additional 1,445,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Trimble by 338.8% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 815,909 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $53,564,000 after buying an additional 629,960 shares during the last quarter. 93.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Trimble

Trimble Inc provides technology solutions that enable professionals and field mobile workers to enhance or transform their work processes worldwide. The company's Buildings and Infrastructure segment offers field and office software for project design and visualization; systems to guide and control construction equipment; software for 3D design and data sharing; systems to monitor, track, and manage assets, equipment, and workers; software to share and communicate data; program management solutions for construction owners; 3D conceptual design and modeling software; building information modeling software; enterprise resource planning, project management, and project collaboration solutions; integrated site layout and measurement systems; cost estimating, scheduling, and project controls solutions; and applications for sub-contractors and trades.