Virtus ETF Advisers LLC Has $1.43 Million Stock Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Virtus ETF Advisers LLC raised its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 39.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,923 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,947 shares during the quarter. Garmin makes up approximately 0.6% of Virtus ETF Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $1,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,612 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,220,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter worth $621,000. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in Garmin by 86.5% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 97,311 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $20,071,000 after buying an additional 45,144 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Garmin by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 8,723 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,799,000 after buying an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Totem Point Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 80.2% in the fourth quarter. Totem Point Management LLC now owns 17,513 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,612,000 after buying an additional 7,793 shares during the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Garmin Price Performance

NYSE GRMN opened at $198.82 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $207.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $205.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $142.85 and a 52-week high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.51. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 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 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Garmin from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price target on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $202.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $609,677.79. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. This represents a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Matthew Munn sold 4,637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.31, for a total transaction of $1,044,762.47. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,579,799.50. This represents a 28.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. 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.