Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 6,910 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 142,387 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,910 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Garmin were worth $29,369,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GRMN. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Garmin by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,863 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 3,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $802,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 241 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In other Garmin news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $609,677.79. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. This represents a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 149,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,963,108.50. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GRMN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Garmin to a “sell” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.80.

Garmin Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of GRMN stock opened at $178.18 on Friday. Garmin Ltd. has a twelve month low of $138.86 and a twelve month high of $246.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $216.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

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.