Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Price Target Raised to $260.00

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) had its price objective upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $219.00 to $260.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on GRMN. Morgan Stanley upgraded Garmin to a “sell” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Garmin from $133.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $206.80.

Garmin Stock Down 1.9 %

GRMN stock opened at $224.67 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $213.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.51. Garmin has a 12 month low of $131.20 and a 12 month high of $246.50. The firm has a market cap of $43.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Garmin will post 7.8 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 paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is 41.04%.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In other news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.99, for a total transaction of $366,270.39. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,743,019.88. The trade was a 6.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 123.2% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 283,412 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $49,889,000 after buying an additional 156,441 shares during the period. Trajan Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Garmin by 9.1% in the third quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 82,362 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $14,498,000 after acquiring an additional 6,878 shares during the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Garmin during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,137,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Garmin by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,529 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,086,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 284,065 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $50,004,000 after purchasing an additional 58,025 shares during the period. 81.60% of the stock is 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.