VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases New Holdings in Garmin Ltd. $GRMN

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 26,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,176,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GRMN. Groupe la Francaise increased its holdings in shares of Garmin by 346.4% in the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 125 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin during the first quarter worth $37,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Garmin in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GRMN. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. UBS Group set a $370.00 target price on shares of Garmin in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Garmin in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Garmin in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Garmin from $238.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.17.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In other Garmin news, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 9,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.36, for a total value of $2,975,937.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,832,916.16. This trade represents a 25.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 4,029 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $1,208,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 120,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,038,100. The trade was a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,108 shares of company stock valued at $4,808,799. 14.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Garmin Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:GRMN opened at $275.55 on Wednesday. Garmin Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $186.67 and a fifty-two week high of $314.28. The stock has a market cap of $53.14 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.71.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.51. Garmin had a net margin of 24.47% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

About Garmin

Garmin Ltd. is a technology company that develops products and services based on global positioning system (GPS) and other navigation technologies. The company serves consumers, businesses and specialized markets through its fitness, outdoor, aviation, marine and automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) segments.

Its product portfolio includes smartwatches and cycling computers, sports and activity trackers, outdoor navigation devices, satellite communication products, aviation avionics and navigation systems, marine chartplotters and sonar equipment, and in-vehicle navigation and infotainment solutions.