Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 3,213 Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 3,213 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GRMN. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Garmin by 169.5% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Clear Street Markets LLC raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 107.1% during the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 321 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Garmin during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 380 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GRMN opened at $141.02 on Thursday. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $94.89 and a 12 month high of $149.54. The stock has a market cap of $27.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $139.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.92.

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

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In other Garmin news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.15, for a total transaction of $2,192,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 623,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,173,339.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Garmin news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total transaction of $217,656.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.15, for a total transaction of $2,192,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 623,834 shares in the company, valued at $91,173,339.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944. Corporate insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GRMN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barrington Research boosted their target price on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.33.

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.