Convergence Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 34.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,660 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 3,212 shares during the quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Garmin were worth $2,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Garmin by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,863 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its position in Garmin by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 3,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Garmin by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,821 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $788,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 804 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GRMN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays raised their target price on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Garmin to a "sell" rating and upped their price target for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $195.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.99, for a total value of $366,270.39. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,743,019.88. The trade was a 6.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company's stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GRMN traded down $4.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $224.67. 1,072,638 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 838,615. Garmin Ltd. has a 12-month low of $131.20 and a 12-month high of $246.50. The firm has a market cap of $43.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $213.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.07.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.04%.

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.