Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $1.73 Million Stock Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,445 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 887 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Garmin were worth $1,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GRMN. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 169.5% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Garmin during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 380 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Garmin during the third quarter valued at about $57,000. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GRMN shares. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barrington Research raised their price target on shares of Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total value of $349,710.66. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $969,781.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total transaction of $349,710.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $969,781.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total transaction of $217,656.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of GRMN stock opened at $141.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $27.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $94.89 and a 52 week high of $149.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.85.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.52%.

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.