Metis Global Partners LLC Has $2.05 Million Stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,940 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $2,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its holdings in Garmin by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 3,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $802,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 522 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Garmin by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,185 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. 81.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Garmin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total transaction of $1,635,862.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,525 shares in the company, valued at $33,963,108.50. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total transaction of $1,569,833.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 63,048 shares in the company, valued at $14,321,353.20. This represents a 9.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,274 shares of company stock worth $5,242,686. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of GRMN stock opened at $228.88 on Monday. The stock has a market cap 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $215.06 and a 200-day moving average of $197.97. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $136.25 and a one year high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) 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 firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is presently 41.04%.

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.