Virtus ETF Advisers LLC Increases Stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Virtus ETF Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 39.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,923 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,947 shares during the period. Garmin makes up about 0.6% of Virtus ETF Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC's holdings in Garmin were worth $1,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GRMN. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Garmin by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,863 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp grew its position in shares of 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. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Garmin by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 241 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in Garmin by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 522 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,936 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,008,550.80. This trade represents a 8.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094. Insiders own 19.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on GRMN shares. Morgan Stanley raised Garmin to a "sell" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Garmin from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $202.80.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of GRMN traded up $3.85 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $204.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,249,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,494. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $144.41 and a 1-year high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Garmin's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.25%.

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.