JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 505,911 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,181,457 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 505,911 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 1.14% of Garmin worth $449,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 15,702 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $3,239,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Garmin by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 251,319 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $52,061,000 after buying an additional 21,445 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in Garmin by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 73,265 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $15,112,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. raised its position in shares of Garmin by 66.9% in the fourth quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 10,066 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $2,077,000 after buying an additional 4,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Garmin by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,089 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Garmin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GRMN traded down $36.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $181.97. 898,933 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 953,129. The company has a market cap of $35.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $138.86 and a 12 month high of $246.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $217.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $203.69.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last released 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 for 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 for the quarter was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total transaction of $625,957.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,936 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,008,550.80. This represents a 8.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $609,677.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at $1,817,180.32. This trade represents a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Garmin to a "sell" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research 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 assigned 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.

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.