Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Makes New $26,000 Investment in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 204 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GRMN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $144,641,000. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 108.1% during the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,868,540 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $188,573,000 after buying an additional 970,527 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 195.2% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 987,042 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $117,073,000 after buying an additional 652,700 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,276,118 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,049,121,000 after buying an additional 365,713 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,798,228 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $545,971,000 after buying an additional 355,087 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GRMN. Bank of America raised their target price on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com raised Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barrington Research lifted their target price on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.33.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In other news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $2,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 758,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,236,760. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $2,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 758,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,236,760. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total value of $217,656.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,319 shares in the company, valued at $21,379,016.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944 over the last ninety days. 19.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Garmin Price Performance

GRMN stock opened at $139.52 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $140.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.59. Garmin Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $94.89 and a fifty-two week high of $149.54.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.32. Garmin had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 24.67%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. Garmin’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.52%.

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.