Trexquant Investment LP Acquires 76,423 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 163.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 123,091 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 76,423 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.06% of Garmin worth $25,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Garmin by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Garmin stock opened at $217.41 on Tuesday. Garmin Ltd. has a twelve month low of $138.86 and a twelve month high of $246.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $217.34 and its 200 day moving average is $203.28. The company has a market cap of $41.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total value of $1,569,833.65. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 63,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,321,353.20. This represents a 9.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094. 19.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and increased their price target for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Tigress Financial boosted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.80.

Garmin 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.