Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) CEO Sells $1,635,862.28 in Stock

Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total value of $1,635,862.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,963,108.50. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GRMN traded down $2.94 during trading on Thursday, hitting $223.98. 884,639 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 843,242. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $214.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a 12-month low of $134.11 and a 12-month high of $246.50.

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

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GRMN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Garmin to a “sell” rating and raised their price target for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Garmin

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,067,708 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,726,645,000 after buying an additional 215,344 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Garmin by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,912,536 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,216,819,000 after buying an additional 134,303 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Garmin by 1.7% in 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 buying an additional 75,332 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Garmin by 40.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,775,154 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $664,540,000 after buying an additional 1,093,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter worth $396,184,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

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.