Financial Advocates Investment Management Grows Stock Holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 9.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,026 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Garmin were worth $982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Garmin by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 30,041 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,861,000 after purchasing an additional 6,939 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 1st quarter valued at $1,389,000. LBP AM SA boosted its stake in Garmin by 81.4% during the 1st quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 7,284 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,268 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in Garmin by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 173,715 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $25,861,000 after purchasing an additional 5,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Garmin by 51.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 28,395 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,227,000 after purchasing an additional 9,681 shares during the period. 73.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Garmin Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of GRMN opened at $180.67 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.02. Garmin Ltd. has a twelve month low of $99.61 and a twelve month high of $183.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.98.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.09% and a net margin of 24.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Garmin’s payout ratio is 42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Garmin news, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.16, for a total value of $1,781,343.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 40,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,257,359.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total value of $379,830.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,256.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.16, for a total value of $1,781,343.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 40,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,257,359.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,531 shares of company stock valued at $2,835,858. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GRMN shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their target price 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. increased their price target on shares of Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Garmin currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.83.

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.