Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Shares Sold by Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC

Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,671 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 661 shares during the period. Knightsbridge Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Garmin during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,137,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $501,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $185,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Garmin by 35.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 135,477 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $22,755,000 after purchasing an additional 35,703 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Garmin by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 199,713 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $35,155,000 after buying an additional 5,965 shares during the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total transaction of $625,957.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,936 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,550.80. The trade was a 8.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $609,677.79. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,817,180.32. This trade represents a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GRMN. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Garmin from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $202.80.

Garmin Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of GRMN opened at $199.27 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $207.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.20. The stock has a market cap of $38.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. Garmin Ltd. has a 1 year low of $140.46 and a 1 year high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. Garmin’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.