Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 28.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 118,591 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,555 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Garmin were worth $24,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GRMN. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 3.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 34,736 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,115,000 after buying an additional 1,244 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Garmin by 111.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,319 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Garmin by 172.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 48,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $8,511,000 after acquiring an additional 30,598 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Garmin during the 3rd quarter valued at about $176,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,314 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GRMN. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays upped their price target on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.67.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.99, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 19.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Garmin Stock Performance

Garmin stock opened at $228.61 on Friday. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $128.89 and a 52 week high of $246.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $212.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.84.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.51. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 25.48%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. Garmin’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is 38.07%.

Garmin 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.