M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Makes New Investment in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,126 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Garmin by 2.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,912,536 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,216,819,000 after purchasing an additional 134,303 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Garmin by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,464 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $765,912,000 after buying an additional 112,815 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Garmin by 40.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,775,154 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $664,540,000 after buying an additional 1,093,219 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in Garmin by 0.6% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,006,563 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $326,909,000 after buying an additional 11,666 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position in Garmin by 3.6% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 1,401,004 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $246,619,000 after acquiring an additional 48,645 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Garmin Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:GRMN traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $215.50. The stock had a trading volume of 746,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 652,053. Garmin Ltd. has a twelve month low of $119.15 and a twelve month high of $222.97. The company has a market capitalization of $41.38 billion, a PE ratio of 27.35, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $211.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.48.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.44 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 25.48%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.99, for a total value of $366,270.39. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,743,019.88. The trade was a 6.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sean Biddlecombe sold 587 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.10, for a total value of $123,328.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,291,484.70. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GRMN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut Garmin from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Garmin from $133.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $171.00.

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.