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

Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) shares gapped down prior to trading 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 traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Garmin Stock Down 14.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $36.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $217.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.69.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $609,677.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total transaction of $1,635,862.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,525 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094. Insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Garmin

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its stake in Garmin by 864.3% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 135 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. 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.