Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 215,344 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,067,708 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 215,344 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Garmin worth $3,726,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Garmin by 123.2% during the third 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 last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank bought a new stake in Garmin during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,137,000. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at about $734,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 128,672 shares during the period. Finally, Baskin Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 148,957 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $30,724,000 after buying an additional 4,616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report 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. raised their target price on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Three equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.80.

Garmin Price Performance

NYSE GRMN opened at $214.67 on Tuesday. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $138.86 and a one year high of $246.50. The firm has a market cap of $41.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $217.09 and its 200-day moving average is $202.05.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.25%.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In other Garmin news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,936 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,550.80. This trade represents a 8.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $609,677.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. The trade was a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094 over the last three months. Company 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.