Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Buys 658 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,929 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $1,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Garmin by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 932,299 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $119,838,000 after buying an additional 6,858 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 82,894 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $10,655,000 after acquiring an additional 33,812 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Garmin by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,015 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 21,431 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,755,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Garmin by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 466 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.15, for a total value of $2,192,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 623,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,173,339.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Garmin news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 5,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $708,727.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,241.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.15, for a total transaction of $2,192,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 623,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,173,339.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944. 19.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Garmin Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of GRMN traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $142.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 188,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 938,554. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $94.89 and a one year high of $149.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.10.

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

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.71%.

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.