Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,417 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Garmin were worth $9,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GRMN. Passumpsic Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Garmin in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,137,000. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $734,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Garmin by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 431,188 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $88,937,000 after acquiring an additional 128,672 shares during the period. Baskin Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Garmin by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 148,957 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $30,724,000 after acquiring an additional 4,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Garmin by 1,580.3% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 270,186 shares during the period. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GRMN opened at $213.59 on Monday. Garmin Ltd. has a 1 year low of $138.86 and a 1 year high of $246.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $217.31 and a 200 day moving average of $203.03. The stock has a market cap of $41.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business’s revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GRMN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Garmin to a “sell” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total transaction of $625,957.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,550.80. This trade represents a 8.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094 over the last three months. 19.54% of the stock is currently 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.