Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,880,000 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the August 15th total of 2,690,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 737,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Garmin Trading Down 1.0 %

GRMN stock traded down $1.71 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $169.87. The stock had a trading volume of 975,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 841,775. Garmin has a 52 week low of $99.61 and a 52 week high of $184.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $174.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.98. The firm has a market cap of $32.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.00.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.09% and a net margin of 24.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Garmin will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GRMN shares. StockNews.com downgraded Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America downgraded Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $165.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays downgraded Garmin from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $181.00 to $133.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Philip Straub sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 88,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,081,348.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Garmin news, Director Philip Straub sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 88,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,081,348.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.16, for a total value of $1,781,343.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,965 shares in the company, valued at $7,257,359.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,892 shares of company stock valued at $2,296,174. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Garmin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Garmin in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin during the second quarter worth about $1,424,000. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Garmin by 2.2% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,743 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin during the second quarter worth about $595,000. Finally, Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Garmin by 7.6% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 33,492 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,456,000 after purchasing an additional 2,380 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.41% 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.