Cerity Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 29.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,905 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 12,870 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Garmin were worth $10,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in Garmin by 864.3% in the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 135 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GRMN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted 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 raised shares of Garmin to a "sell" rating and upped their target price for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Garmin currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $210.80.

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Insider Transactions at Garmin

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total value of $1,635,862.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,525 shares in the company, valued at $33,963,108.50. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the company'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 transaction, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. The trade was a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Garmin Trading Down 0.1 %

GRMN traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $192.00. 308,669 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 883,185. The firm has a market cap of $36.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. Garmin Ltd. has a 12-month low of $138.86 and a 12-month high of $246.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $211.03 and a 200 day moving average of $204.49.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.