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

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Barclays from $158.00 to $188.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 16.32% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on GRMN. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Garmin to a “sell” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.67.

Garmin Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE GRMN opened at $224.67 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.07. The stock has a market cap of $43.14 billion, a PE ratio of 30.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin has a twelve month low of $131.20 and a twelve month high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Garmin’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Garmin will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.99, for a total value of $366,270.39. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,743,019.88. This trade represents a 6.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GRMN. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its stake in Garmin by 864.3% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 135 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in Garmin during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Garmin by 578.6% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 190 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

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.