Tower View Wealth Management LLC Invests $3.36 Million in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Tower View Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 16,278 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,357,000. Garmin comprises 1.8% of Tower View Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GRMN. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $664,540,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093,219 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Garmin in the third quarter valued at $53,252,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Garmin by 1,580.3% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 287,283 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $50,570,000 after acquiring an additional 270,186 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Garmin by 123.8% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 486,281 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $85,600,000 after acquiring an additional 268,996 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Garmin by 560.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 203,713 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $35,860,000 after acquiring an additional 172,883 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE:GRMN opened at $228.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.04 billion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $136.25 and a 52-week high of $246.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.77.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GRMN shares. Barclays raised their target price on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley raised Garmin to a “sell” rating and raised their target price for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Garmin news, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total value of $1,569,833.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 63,048 shares in the company, valued at $14,321,353.20. The trade was a 9.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total value of $1,635,862.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,963,108.50. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,274 shares of company stock worth $5,242,686. 19.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.