Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $195.67.

GRMN has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Garmin to a “sell” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th.

Garmin Stock Down 5.5 %

Shares of GRMN stock opened at $228.61 on Friday. Garmin has a 12-month low of $128.89 and a 12-month high of $246.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $212.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.84. The company has a market capitalization of $43.90 billion, a PE ratio of 29.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.98.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 25.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Garmin will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.07%.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In other Garmin news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.99, for a total value of $366,270.39. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,743,019.88. This trade represents a 6.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Garmin

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GRMN. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 864.3% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 135 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Garmin by 578.6% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 190 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 81.60% 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.