Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Price Target Raised to $166.00 at Barclays

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Barclays from $140.00 to $166.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 0.85% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on GRMN. StockNews.com raised shares of Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Barrington Research raised their price objective on shares of Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.17.

Garmin Price Performance

GRMN traded up $1.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $164.60. 280,255 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 949,450. Garmin has a 1 year low of $96.04 and a 1 year high of $165.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $144.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.62.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.32. Garmin had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. Garmin’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Garmin will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.15, for a total transaction of $2,192,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 623,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,173,339.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total value of $349,710.66. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $969,781.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944. 19.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in Garmin in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

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.