Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 9,795 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,525 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 9,795 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Garmin were worth $4,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GRMN. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Garmin by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 380 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Garmin during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Garmin by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 466 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total value of $349,710.66. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $969,781.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total transaction of $349,710.66. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $969,781.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total transaction of $217,656.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944. 19.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GRMN. StockNews.com lowered Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barrington Research upped their target price on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.50.

Garmin Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:GRMN opened at $165.97 on Monday. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $99.56 and a 12 month high of $166.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a PEG ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.61.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.02 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.18%.

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.