Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 33,812 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 68.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,894 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,812 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Garmin were worth $10,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Garmin by 169.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in Garmin during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Garmin by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 380 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GRMN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barrington Research increased their price objective on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.33.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was 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 approximately $969,781.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Garmin news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $2,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 758,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,236,760. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total value of $349,710.66. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $969,781.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GRMN opened at $142.80 on Thursday. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $94.89 and a 52-week high of $149.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $141.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.21.

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

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.