Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 10.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,763 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Garmin were worth $2,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Garmin during the second quarter worth $35,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. West Oak Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Garmin in the second quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Garmin in the second quarter valued at $76,000. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GRMN. Barclays lowered shares of Garmin from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $181.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Friday. Bank of America downgraded shares of Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $165.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.16, for a total transaction of $1,781,343.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 40,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,257,359.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.16, for a total transaction of $1,781,343.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,257,359.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Philip Straub sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.46, for a total value of $499,015.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 88,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,081,348.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,892 shares of company stock valued at $2,296,174 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE:GRMN opened at $172.68 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.14. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $99.61 and a 52 week high of $184.42. The company has a market cap of $33.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.00.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.09% and a net margin of 24.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Garmin’s payout ratio is currently 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.