StockNews.com Upgrades Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) to Buy

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barrington Research upped their price objective on shares of Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.33.

Garmin Stock Performance

NYSE GRMN opened at $142.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin has a 1 year low of $94.89 and a 1 year high of $149.54. The business’s fifty day moving average is $141.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.21.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 earnings per share (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 previous year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Garmin will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Garmin

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 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 Garmin in the 4th quarter worth about $28,279,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Garmin by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 862,527 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $110,869,000 after purchasing an additional 190,739 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Garmin by 153.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in Garmin by 2.5% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 176,510 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.