Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Lowers Stock Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN – Get Rating) by 38.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,075 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 5,786 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Garmin were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Garmin by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,700 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,357,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Garmin by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,224 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,867,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its stake in Garmin by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 23,402 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Garmin by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Garmin by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 238,797 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $22,040,000 after acquiring an additional 42,261 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.54, for a total value of $711,064.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 120,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,870,128.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Garmin news, Director Sean Biddlecombe sold 867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.71, for a total value of $85,581.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $605,092.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,216 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.54, for a total value of $711,064.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 120,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,870,128.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,610 shares of company stock valued at $1,635,921 over the last quarter. 20.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GRMN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Garmin from $101.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Garmin in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Garmin from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Garmin from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Garmin in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.80.

Garmin Price Performance

NYSE:GRMN opened at $102.71 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $19.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.94. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $76.37 and a one year high of $108.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.74.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. Garmin had a net margin of 19.94% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Company Profile

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Garmin Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of navigation, communications and information devices, most of which are enabled by Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. It operates through the following segments: Marine, Outdoor, Fitness, Auto OEM, Consumer Auto, and Aviation.