Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys New Shares in Garmin Ltd. $GRMN

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,891 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,913,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,943 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Garmin by 6.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Garmin by 40.6% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,017 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 3,757 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Garmin by 51.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 6,811 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after buying an additional 2,304 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 17.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Garmin

Here are the key news stories impacting Garmin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — Garmin reported record Q4 revenue (~$2.12B) and pro forma EPS of $2.79, with strong double‑digit growth in Fitness, Aviation and Marine; management issued above‑consensus FY‑2026 guidance. Garmin’s Q4 Earnings Surpass Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns boosted — company proposed a ~17% raise to the quarterly dividend and authorized a new $500M share‑repurchase program, improving shareholder yield and reducing float. Garmin Jumps on Guidance, Then Doubles Down on Buybacks and a Bigger Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Upgrades and positive coverage — Zacks moved Garmin to a Rank #2 (Buy) and several outlets highlighted the company as a steady-growth name, supporting near‑term demand for the shares. All You Need to Know About Garmin (GRMN) Rating Upgrade to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Additional analyst support — Morgan Stanley and other outlets published upgrades/comments after the results, and JPMorgan raised its price target (to $265), adding institutional credibility. Morgan Stanley upgrades Garmin (GRMN)
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation considerations — coverage notes that Garmin now trades at a premium to the market (~mid‑20s P/E) after the move; some analysts still stress valuation even as growth outlook improves. Assessing Garmin (GRMN) Valuation After Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling noted — data aggregators show insider sales in recent months, which some investors watch as a cautionary signal even amid strong company results. QuiverQuant analysis & insider activity

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GRMN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Garmin in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Longbow Research upgraded shares of Garmin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Garmin from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Garmin from $193.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Garmin from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.00.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of Garmin stock opened at $248.65 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $208.76 and a 200-day moving average of $220.57. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $169.26 and a 52-week high of $261.69. The stock has a market cap of $47.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.91, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.00.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.96% and a return on equity of 19.64%. Garmin’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.41 earnings per share. Garmin has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.350-9.350 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 12th will be paid a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 12th. Garmin’s payout ratio is 41.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Garmin news, Director Sean Biddlecombe sold 1,071 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.76, for a total transaction of $257,853.96. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,884 shares in the company, valued at $1,898,151.84. This trade represents a 11.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.41, for a total value of $103,181.39. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 28,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,136,600.08. The trade was a 1.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,144 shares of company stock worth $3,798,628. 15.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Garmin Profile

Garmin Ltd. is a technology company best known for designing and manufacturing navigation, communication and information devices that leverage global positioning system (GPS) technology. The company serves a diverse set of markets including consumer fitness and wearables, automotive navigation, aviation avionics, marine electronics and outdoor handheld devices. Garmin’s products combine hardware, mapping and software services to deliver location-aware solutions for personal, recreational and professional uses.

Garmin’s product lineup includes wearable fitness and multisport watches (Forerunner, Fenix, Venu), cycling computers and accessories (Edge, Varia), handheld and handheld-mounted GPS devices for outdoor activities, automotive and portable navigation units, marine chartplotters and fishfinders, and certified avionics for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.