Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Stock Gets Downgrade from Zacks Research

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

GRMN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. UBS Group set a $370.00 price objective on Garmin in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Garmin from $238.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Garmin in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Garmin in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.17.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of GRMN opened at $276.84 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $53.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.34. Garmin has a 1 year low of $186.67 and a 1 year high of $314.28.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 24.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.17 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Garmin will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Garmin news, CEO Clifton Pemble sold 4,029 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $1,208,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,038,100. The trade was a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Joshua H. Maxfield sold 1,152 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.13, for a total value of $335,381.76. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 15,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,379,177.46. The trade was a 7.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,108 shares of company stock worth $4,808,799. 14.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Garmin

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GRMN. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Garmin by 121.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 107,929 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $25,041,000 after buying an additional 59,229 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Garmin during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,447,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,237,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 351,241 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $81,491,000 after acquiring an additional 119,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 198.8% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 7,452 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,770,000 after acquiring an additional 4,958 shares during the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Garmin

Garmin Ltd. is a technology company that develops products using global positioning system (GPS), satellite communications and other location-based technologies. The company serves consumers, businesses and professional users through product lines focused on fitness, outdoor recreation, aviation, marine and automotive applications.

Its offerings include smartwatches and fitness trackers, cycling computers, navigation devices, satellite communicators, outdoor handhelds, marine chartplotters and sonar systems, and aviation navigation and communication equipment.