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

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays raised their target price on Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barrington Research raised their target price on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Garmin currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.50.

Garmin Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of GRMN stock traded up $0.64 on Thursday, hitting $165.97. 973,141 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 983,928. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.40, a P/E/G ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.99. Garmin has a one year low of $99.56 and a one year high of $166.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $145.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.28.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Garmin will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total transaction of $217,656.18. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total transaction of $217,656.18. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total value 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 99,476 shares of company stock worth $14,166,944. 19.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Garmin

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 213.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 41,557 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,342,000 after buying an additional 28,301 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Services purchased a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,365,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Garmin by 42.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 125,389 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $13,191,000 after purchasing an additional 37,532 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,691,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its stake in Garmin by 369.6% in the 4th quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 14,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 11,087 shares during the period. 73.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.