Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Sells 2,399 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board trimmed its holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 70.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 994 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 2,399 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Garmin were worth $205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GRMN. Mariner LLC raised its position in shares of Garmin by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 48,254 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $9,953,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. Optimize Financial Inc purchased a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter worth about $607,000. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Garmin by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,053 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $836,000 after buying an additional 1,353 shares during the period. Petros Family Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at about $313,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 55.2% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 9,347 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,928,000 after buying an additional 3,323 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GRMN traded up $4.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $195.95. The company had a trading volume of 346,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,007,172. Garmin Ltd. has a twelve month low of $140.46 and a twelve month high of $246.50. The stock's 50 day moving average is $208.18 and its 200-day moving average is $205.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.70 billion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The business's revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Garmin's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,963,108.50. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 owns 8,432 shares in the company, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094. 19.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Garmin from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $202.80.

Garmin Company 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.