Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Stake Lowered by Meeder Asset Management Inc.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,914 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Garmin were worth $1,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GRMN. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Garmin by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,438,796 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $913,544,000 after purchasing an additional 75,332 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Garmin by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,708,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $352,475,000 after purchasing an additional 149,210 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Garmin by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,708,495 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $352,394,000 after purchasing an additional 286,765 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Garmin by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 999,096 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $206,074,000 after acquiring an additional 135,135 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Garmin by 25,047.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 885,456 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $192,259,000 after acquiring an additional 881,935 shares during the period. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total value of $399,685.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 29,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,266,390. This represents a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $1,605,471.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 141,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,785,484.50. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

NYSE GRMN opened at $236.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.60. Garmin Ltd. has a twelve month low of $160.71 and a twelve month high of $246.50. The stock has a market cap of $45.48 billion, a PE ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.97.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.01). Garmin had a net margin of 22.76% and a return on equity of 19.21%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Garmin’s payout ratio is presently 47.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GRMN shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Garmin from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.75.

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.