FIL Ltd Raises Stock Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 95.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,729 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,311 shares during the period. FIL Ltd's holdings in Garmin were worth $975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 864.3% in the fourth 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 period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in Garmin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in Garmin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total value of $625,957.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,936 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,008,550.80. The trade was a 8.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total transaction of $1,635,862.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,963,108.50. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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Garmin Price Performance

NYSE GRMN traded up $0.24 on Tuesday, reaching $192.34. 579,358 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 884,106. The stock has a market cap of $37.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.41.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm's revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Garmin's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GRMN shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Garmin to a "sell" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price 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, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $210.80.

Garmin 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.