Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $156.83.

GRMN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut shares of Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GRMN opened at $167.42 on Monday. Garmin has a 1 year low of $99.61 and a 1 year high of $179.76. The stock has a market cap of $32.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $165.71 and a 200 day moving average of $152.04.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.18. Garmin had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 17.09%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. Garmin’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Garmin will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Garmin’s payout ratio is 42.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total transaction of $674,683.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,551,530.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total transaction of $674,683.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,551,530.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total transaction of $379,830.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,010 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Garmin

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 3.3% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Garmin by 2.6% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake 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 during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 3.4% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,629 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. 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.