Diversified Investment Strategies LLC Trims Holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Diversified Investment Strategies LLC decreased its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,532 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 285 shares during the quarter. Garmin comprises about 1.7% of Diversified Investment Strategies LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Diversified Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $2,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GRMN. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Garmin during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Garmin by 578.6% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 190 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Garmin during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 81.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Garmin from $133.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Garmin from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Garmin news, Director Sean Biddlecombe sold 587 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.10, for a total transaction of $123,328.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,291,484.70. This represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.99, for a total value of $366,270.39. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,743,019.88. The trade was a 6.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Garmin Stock Performance

Garmin stock opened at $216.85 on Wednesday. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $119.15 and a one year high of $222.97. The stock has a market cap of $41.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $211.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.72.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 25.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.