Artisan Partners Limited Partnership reduced its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,642,095 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 792,393 shares during the period. Garmin makes up about 1.8% of Artisan Partners Limited Partnership's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned approximately 2.94% of Garmin worth $1,163,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GRMN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Garmin by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,067,708 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $3,726,645,000 after purchasing an additional 215,344 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 134,303 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Garmin by 40.8% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its position in shares of Garmin by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 1,401,004 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $246,619,000 after acquiring an additional 48,645 shares during the period. 81.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Garmin Price Performance
Shares of NYSE GRMN traded up $2.66 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $216.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 206,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 942,286. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $138.86 and a 52 week high of $246.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $217.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.62 billion, a PE ratio of 29.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96.
Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Garmin Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin's payout ratio is currently 49.25%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin
In related news, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total transaction of $1,569,833.65. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 63,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,321,353.20. This represents a 9.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of Garmin 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,817,180.32. The trade was a 25.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 19.54% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Garmin to a "sell" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $210.80.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on GRMN
Garmin Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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