Trek Financial LLC Invests $4 Million in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Trek Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,413 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,004,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its holdings in Garmin by 864.3% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 135 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. 81.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,963,108.50. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $609,677.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at $1,817,180.32. This represents a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on GRMN. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of 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 upped their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Garmin currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.80.

Garmin Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE:GRMN opened at $178.18 on Friday. 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 $34.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $216.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $203.83.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. Analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.25%.

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.