Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

GRMN has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barrington Research upped their target price on shares of Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a strong-buy rating and set a $175.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $142.33.

Garmin Price Performance

NYSE:GRMN opened at $139.52 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $140.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.27. The company has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin has a 1-year low of $94.89 and a 1-year high of $149.54.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.32. Garmin had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. Garmin’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Garmin will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.71%.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

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

Institutional Trading of Garmin

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 17.6% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 542 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,168 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,518 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 3.5% in the first quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,768 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,189 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $924,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.