Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Decreases Stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lowered its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,979 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Garmin were worth $2,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Garmin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Garmin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Garmin by 578.6% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 190 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Garmin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Garmin during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on GRMN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Garmin to a “sell” rating and increased their target price for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays increased their target price on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total value of $1,569,833.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 63,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,321,353.20. The trade was a 9.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total transaction of $625,957.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,550.80. This trade represents a 8.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,274 shares of company stock valued at $5,242,686. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Trading Up 2.2 %

GRMN stock opened at $228.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $215.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.58. Garmin Ltd. has a 12-month low of $136.25 and a 12-month high of $246.50. The firm has a market cap of $44.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.04%.

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.