Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Shares Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 16.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,433 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Garmin by 61.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,535 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $793,000 after buying an additional 2,864 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Garmin by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 12,514 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Garmin by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 125,389 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $13,191,000 after purchasing an additional 37,532 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Garmin by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 306,175 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,210,000 after purchasing an additional 31,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Garmin by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,411,205 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $148,459,000 after purchasing an additional 136,929 shares in the last quarter. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total transaction of $379,830.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,010 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,256.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Garmin news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total transaction of $674,683.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,412 shares in the company, valued at $9,551,530.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total value of $379,830.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,010 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,256.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Garmin Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GRMN opened at $159.96 on Friday. Garmin Ltd. has a 1 year low of $99.61 and a 1 year high of $171.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.46. The firm has a market cap of $30.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.98.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.42. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 24.96%. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. Garmin’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.77 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is 42.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GRMN shares. StockNews.com raised Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective on Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Barrington Research increased their target price on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.83.

About Garmin

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.