Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,980,000 shares, a growth of 34.5% from the February 28th total of 2,960,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 947,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days.

Garmin Trading Up 0.2 %

Garmin stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $217.48. The company had a trading volume of 900,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 850,655. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $217.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.59. Garmin has a 52 week low of $138.86 and a 52 week high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Garmin will post 7.8 earnings per share 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 given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Garmin’s payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $33,963,108.50. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total value of $625,957.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,008,550.80. This trade represents a 8.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Garmin

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Garmin by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,281 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,771,000 after buying an additional 1,669 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Garmin by 165.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 61,172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $12,617,000 after purchasing an additional 38,151 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new stake in Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,174,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its holdings in Garmin by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 23,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,876,000 after purchasing an additional 7,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,748,000. 81.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.