TIAA Trust National Association Decreases Stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

TIAA Trust National Association cut its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,159 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 82 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Garmin were worth $239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Garmin by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,863 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $591,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 3,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Garmin by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 241 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Garmin by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 522 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Garmin by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,821 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GRMN has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.80.

Garmin Stock Performance

GRMN stock opened at $213.59 on Friday. Garmin Ltd. has a 1 year low of $138.86 and a 1 year high of $246.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.22, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $217.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.73.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $609,677.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. This represents a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total transaction of $1,635,862.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,525 shares in the company, valued at $33,963,108.50. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094 in the last three months. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Garmin Company Profile

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.