IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Lowers Stock Holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lowered its stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 34.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,381 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 712 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Garmin were worth $285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GRMN. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Garmin by 578.6% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 190 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Garmin by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 109,361 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $19,251,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Garmin by 40.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,775,154 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $664,540,000 after buying an additional 1,093,219 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Garmin by 74.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 1,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 44.1% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 2,326 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

Garmin stock opened at $213.59 on Friday. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $138.86 and a one year high of $246.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $217.31 and a 200 day moving average of $202.73. The stock has a market cap of $41.10 billion, a PE ratio of 29.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is 49.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total transaction of $1,569,833.65. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 63,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,321,353.20. The trade was a 9.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

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.