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

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

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of GRMN stock traded up $0.84 on Monday, reaching $209.27. The stock had a trading volume of 937,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 860,491. The stock has a market cap of $40.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.97. Garmin has a 1 year low of $118.79 and a 1 year high of $215.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.57.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GRMN. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Garmin from $133.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered Garmin from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $138.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Garmin from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sean Biddlecombe sold 587 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.10, for a total transaction of $123,328.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,291,484.70. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Philip Straub sold 2,750 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.46, for a total transaction of $499,015.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,479 shares of company stock worth $2,419,502 in the last quarter. 19.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GRMN. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its holdings in Garmin by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 6,686 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 14,056 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,290,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in Garmin by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Garmin by 2.6% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 0.7% in the third quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,715 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.