Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Shares Sold by Schroder Investment Management Group

Schroder Investment Management Group lessened its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 48.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 105,793 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 100,011 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Garmin were worth $21,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Garmin during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. This trade represents a 25.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total value of $1,569,833.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 63,048 shares in the company, valued at $14,321,353.20. This trade represents a 9.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094. 19.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Garmin Stock Performance

Garmin stock opened at $218.24 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $217.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.69. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $138.86 and a 52 week high of $246.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96.

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. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during 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%. Garmin’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders 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 1.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.25%.

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.