Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Hits New 1-Year High at $159.90

Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $159.90 and last traded at $159.52, with a volume of 370339 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $144.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on GRMN. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barrington Research lifted their target price on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Five equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.33.

Garmin Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $143.40 and a 200 day moving average of $128.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.98.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released 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. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Garmin’s payout ratio is 43.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Garmin news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.15, for a total value of $2,192,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 623,834 shares in the company, valued at $91,173,339.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Garmin news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.15, for a total value of $2,192,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 623,834 shares in the company, valued at $91,173,339.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total transaction of $349,710.66. Following the sale, the vice president now 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 90 days, insiders sold 99,476 shares of company stock worth $14,166,944. Company insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Garmin

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Garmin in the 4th quarter worth about $54,460,000. SW Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter worth $28,279,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Garmin by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 862,527 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $110,869,000 after purchasing an additional 190,739 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Garmin by 153.8% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 291,918 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $37,737,000 after purchasing an additional 176,908 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in Garmin by 2.5% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,246,834 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $762,367,000 after buying an additional 176,510 shares in 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.