Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Short Interest Update

Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) was the target of a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,970,000 shares, a decline of 13.3% from the October 15th total of 4,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 861,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Garmin Stock Performance

Garmin stock traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $209.27. 937,418 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 860,491. Garmin has a 12 month low of $118.79 and a 12 month high of $215.55. The company has a market cap of $40.19 billion, a PE ratio of 26.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $179.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.57.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 25.48% and a return on equity of 17.99%. Garmin’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Garmin will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Garmin from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Garmin from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $138.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Garmin from $133.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Three 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In other Garmin news, Director Philip Straub sold 2,750 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.46, for a total value of $499,015.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 88,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,081,348.12. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.16, for a total value of $1,781,343.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 40,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,257,359.40. This represents a 19.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,479 shares of company stock valued at $2,419,502 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Garmin

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Garmin by 2.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,912,536 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,216,819,000 after purchasing an additional 134,303 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,464 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $765,912,000 after acquiring an additional 112,815 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Garmin by 40.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,775,154 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $664,540,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093,219 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in Garmin by 0.6% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,006,563 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $326,909,000 after acquiring an additional 11,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Garmin by 0.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,735,623 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $282,761,000 after acquiring an additional 13,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

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.