O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Purchases 2,413 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 30.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,286 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,413 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $2,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Garmin by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Garmin Stock Down 3.9 %

NYSE GRMN opened at $178.18 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $216.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.60. Garmin Ltd. has a 12-month low of $138.86 and a 12-month high of $246.50. The company has a market capitalization of $34.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly 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. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Garmin

In other news, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 63,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,321,353.20. This trade represents a 9.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. This represents a 25.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094 over the last quarter. 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.