Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) Hits New 1-Year High Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $238.56 and last traded at $242.31, with a volume of 417781 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $214.78.

The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.51. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 25.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GRMN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Garmin to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $219.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays upped 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Garmin to a “sell” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Garmin presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $183.83.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In other news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.99, for a total value of $366,270.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,743,019.88. This represents a 6.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 19.54% 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 added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning increased its stake in Garmin by 3.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 34,736 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $6,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,244 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Garmin by 111.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,319 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 172.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 48,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $8,511,000 after buying an additional 30,598 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Garmin during the 3rd quarter worth about $176,000. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management raised its holdings in Garmin by 15.8% in the third quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 22,173 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,903,000 after acquiring an additional 3,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $212.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.07 billion, a PE ratio of 30.43, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98.

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.