Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $218.07, but opened at $189.24. Garmin shares last traded at $185.35, with a volume of 419,350 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.80.

Garmin Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $34.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $203.60.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for 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%. Garmin’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is 49.25%.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In other Garmin news, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total value of $1,569,833.65. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 63,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,321,353.20. This represents a 9.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total transaction of $1,635,862.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,963,108.50. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094 over the last 90 days. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Garmin

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,137,000. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $734,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Garmin by 42.5% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 128,672 shares in the last quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 148,957 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $30,724,000 after buying an additional 4,616 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $1,872,000 after buying an additional 2,910 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% 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.