Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 12.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,962 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in Garmin by 17.6% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 542 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Garmin by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,168 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in Garmin by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,518 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Garmin by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,189 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Garmin by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 380 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. 73.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Garmin Trading Up 0.6 %

Garmin stock opened at $162.92 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $161.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.13. The stock has a market cap of $31.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $99.61 and a 52 week high of $171.64.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.42. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 24.96%. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GRMN. StockNews.com raised Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Bank of America cut Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $165.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total value of $674,683.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,412 shares in the company, valued at $9,551,530.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Garmin news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total value of $379,830.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,256.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total transaction of $674,683.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,551,530.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

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.