Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

Several other research firms have also issued reports on GRMN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Bank of America lowered Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $165.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.83.

Garmin Trading Down 0.3 %

Garmin stock opened at $160.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $162.70 and a 200-day moving average of $143.86. Garmin has a 52 week low of $99.61 and a 52 week high of $171.64.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 24.96%. The business’s revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Garmin will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Garmin news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total value of $674,683.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,551,530.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Garmin news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total value of $674,683.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,551,530.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total value of $379,830.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,010 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,256.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GRMN. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 380 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. 73.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.