SYM FINANCIAL Corp Boosts Stock Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 37.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,598 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Garmin were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Garmin by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,438,796 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $913,544,000 after purchasing an additional 75,332 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter worth about $396,184,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,708,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $352,475,000 after buying an additional 149,210 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Garmin by 20.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 286,765 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Garmin by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 999,096 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $206,074,000 after acquiring an additional 135,135 shares in the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $1,605,471.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 141,626 shares in the company, valued at $28,785,484.50. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total value of $399,685.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,266,390. This represents a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Garmin Stock Performance

NYSE GRMN opened at $231.85 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.09. The company has a market capitalization of $44.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.97. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $160.71 and a one year high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.01). Garmin had a net margin of 22.76% and a return on equity of 19.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GRMN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Garmin from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Garmin currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $214.75.

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.