Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Given New $260.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

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

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GRMN. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Garmin from $133.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and raised their target price for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $195.67.

Garmin Stock Down 5.5 %

Shares of GRMN opened at $228.61 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.84. The company has a market capitalization of $43.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin has a 52-week low of $128.89 and a 52-week high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced 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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Garmin

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $49,889,000 after acquiring an additional 156,441 shares during the last quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $14,498,000 after acquiring an additional 6,878 shares during the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin in the third quarter worth approximately $3,137,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 24.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,529 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,086,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 25.7% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 284,065 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $50,004,000 after acquiring an additional 58,025 shares during the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Garmin Company Profile

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.