Strs Ohio Sells 3,328 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Strs Ohio lessened its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,509 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 3,328 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Garmin were worth $1,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 213.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 41,557 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,342,000 after buying an additional 28,301 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Garmin by 42.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 125,389 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $13,191,000 after purchasing an additional 37,532 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Garmin during the 4th quarter worth about $8,691,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 369.6% in the 4th quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 14,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 11,087 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,536,000. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total transaction of $349,710.66. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $969,781.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Garmin news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total value of $349,710.66. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $969,781.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 99,476 shares of company stock worth $14,166,944 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Garmin Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:GRMN opened at $139.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $94.89 and a 1-year high of $149.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.27.

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

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is presently 44.71%.

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.