Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Short Interest Up 34.5% in March

Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) was the target of 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. Based on an average trading volume of 947,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Currently, 2.5% of the company's stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GRMN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Garmin to a "sell" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays upped their target price on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective 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. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $210.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Garmin news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $609,677.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,817,180.32. This trade represents a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total value 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 approximately $33,963,108.50. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company's stock.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Garmin

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Garmin by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,863 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Garmin by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 3,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Garmin by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 241 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Garmin by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 522 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Garmin by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,821 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GRMN traded down $8.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $177.01. 419,097 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 858,941. The company has a market cap of $34.06 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. Garmin has a 12 month low of $138.86 and a 12 month high of $246.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $216.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $203.57.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. The firm 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Garmin will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.25%.

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.