Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Position Increased by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,510 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,931 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $2,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 578.6% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Garmin Trading Down 1.9 %

Garmin stock opened at $224.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $213.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.51. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $131.20 and a 1-year high of $246.50.

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

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Garmin’s payout ratio is presently 41.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and upped their price target for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three 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 MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $206.80.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,743,019.88. This trade represents a 6.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.