Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 1,088,938 Shares of Garmin Ltd. $GRMN

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 649.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,256,668 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,088,938 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.65% of Garmin worth $309,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 2.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,197,564 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,973,044,000 after acquiring an additional 499,235 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Garmin by 6.4% during the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 5,892,150 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,229,810,000 after buying an additional 356,161 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Garmin during the second quarter worth about $410,304,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Garmin by 1.1% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,494,519 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $367,964,000 after acquiring an additional 16,622 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its position in Garmin by 0.4% in the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 1,419,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $296,250,000 after acquiring an additional 5,213 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GRMN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Longbow Research raised shares of Garmin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Garmin from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays set a $240.00 price objective on Garmin in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Zacks Research raised shares of Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Garmin in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.00.

Garmin Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE GRMN opened at $233.55 on Monday. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $169.26 and a 12 month high of $261.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $221.24 and a 200-day moving average of $221.88.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 22.96% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.41 earnings per share. 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. On average, analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 12th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 3,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total transaction of $877,538.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 28,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,058,811.34. This trade represents a 11.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.65, for a total value of $1,684,545.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 58,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,731,591. The trade was a 10.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,319 shares of company stock valued at $13,650,815. 19.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Garmin Company 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.