Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Stake Lowered by Fred Alger Management LLC

Fred Alger Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,355 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 103 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $4,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at $396,184,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Garmin by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,708,495 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $352,394,000 after purchasing an additional 286,765 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in Garmin by 164.7% in the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 398,145 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $82,121,000 after purchasing an additional 247,726 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,067,708 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,726,645,000 after purchasing an additional 215,344 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 675,950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $139,421,000 after buying an additional 164,818 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

Garmin stock opened at $191.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $36.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.99. Garmin Ltd. has a 1 year low of $158.38 and a 1 year high of $246.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $200.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.20.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.01). Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.37%.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total transaction of $1,569,833.65. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 63,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,321,353.20. The trade was a 9.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total transaction of $1,635,862.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,963,108.50. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094. 15.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Garmin from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $194.80.

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.