Forsta AP Fonden Grows Stock Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 9.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 27,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Garmin were worth $4,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GRMN. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Garmin by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 380 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Garmin news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total transaction of $379,830.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,256.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Garmin news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total transaction of $674,683.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,551,530.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total value of $379,830.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,256.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Garmin currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.83.

Garmin Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE GRMN opened at $169.50 on Monday. Garmin Ltd. has a twelve month low of $99.61 and a twelve month high of $171.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.98.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.42. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.02 EPS. Garmin’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Garmin’s payout ratio is currently 42.31%.

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.