Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Shares Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,191 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,290 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $4,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Garmin by 123.2% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 283,412 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $49,889,000 after acquiring an additional 156,441 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new position in Garmin during the 3rd quarter worth $3,137,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Garmin by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,529 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,086,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in Garmin during the 4th quarter worth $734,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its position in Garmin by 42.5% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE GRMN opened at $209.78 on Friday. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $138.86 and a 12 month high of $246.50. The company has a market cap of $40.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $201.66.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. Garmin’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

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 $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the 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 directly owns 149,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,963,108.50. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total value of $625,957.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,008,550.80. This represents a 8.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.