Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Price Target Raised to $172.00 at Morgan Stanley

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $159.00 to $172.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Garmin from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.80.

Garmin Stock Performance

GRMN opened at $187.08 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $204.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. Garmin has a 52 week low of $158.38 and a 52 week high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.01). Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Garmin will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is 49.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total value of $1,635,862.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,963,108.50. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $609,677.79. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,817,180.32. The trade was a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at $734,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Garmin by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 431,188 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $88,937,000 after acquiring an additional 128,672 shares during the period. Baskin Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Garmin by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 148,957 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $30,724,000 after acquiring an additional 4,616 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 9,075 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at about $127,000. 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.