Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. cut its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 548,940 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 12,045 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.29% of Garmin worth $81,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in Garmin by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,310,112 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $939,642,000 after purchasing an additional 63,278 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Garmin by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,715,703 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $220,541,000 after acquiring an additional 45,242 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Garmin by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,291,589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $166,021,000 after acquiring an additional 54,001 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Garmin by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 932,299 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $119,838,000 after acquiring an additional 6,858 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 862,527 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $110,869,000 after purchasing an additional 190,739 shares in the last quarter. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Garmin

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

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GRMN opened at $161.15 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $163.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.98. The stock has a market cap of $30.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $99.61 and a one year high of $171.64.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.31%.

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.