Empirical Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Garmin Ltd. $GRMN

Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 122.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,635 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,652 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $1,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Garmin by 1.2% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $923,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO. increased its position in shares of Garmin by 4.3% in the second quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 1,151 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Garmin by 2.9% in the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,724 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,294 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 9,314 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,293,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In other news, Director Sean Biddlecombe sold 1,071 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,898,151.84. This trade represents a 11.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 10,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.23, for a total value of $2,151,185.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 135,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,878,171.40. This represents a 7.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,144 shares of company stock valued at $3,798,628. 19.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GRMN opened at $251.56 on Wednesday. Garmin Ltd. has a 1 year low of $169.26 and a 1 year high of $261.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $210.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.76. The firm has a market cap of $48.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.25, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.00.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.40. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 22.96%.The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.41 EPS. Garmin’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Garmin has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.350-9.350 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current 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 issued a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 12th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GRMN. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Garmin from $193.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Garmin from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Garmin in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Longbow Research raised Garmin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays set a $240.00 price target on Garmin in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.00.

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.