Intech Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 11,663 Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,663 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GRMN. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,093,219 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Garmin during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,252,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 1,580.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 287,283 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $50,570,000 after purchasing an additional 270,186 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 675,950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $139,421,000 after purchasing an additional 164,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,795,000. 81.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $609,677.79. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. This trade represents a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Matthew Munn sold 4,637 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.31, for a total transaction of $1,044,762.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,579,799.50. This represents a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of GRMN opened at $208.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s fifty day moving average is $216.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.33. Garmin Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $138.86 and a fifty-two week high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Garmin’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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 raised 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. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.80.

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.