Bcwm LLC Invests $7.19 Million in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Bcwm LLC acquired a new stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 34,855 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,189,000. Garmin comprises approximately 2.6% of Bcwm LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GRMN. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Garmin by 578.6% during 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 buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Garmin Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:GRMN opened at $213.59 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $217.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. Garmin Ltd. has a 12-month low of $138.86 and a 12-month high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Garmin news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $609,677.79. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. This represents a 25.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total transaction of $625,957.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,936 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,550.80. The trade was a 8.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094 in the last ninety days. 19.54% of the stock is owned by 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.