State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Buys 4,472 Shares of Garmin Ltd. $GRMN

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 8.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 57,251 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,472 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Garmin were worth $14,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Garmin by 2.9% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 19,805 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,876,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Sage Partners LLC bought a new stake in Garmin during the third quarter worth about $211,000. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Garmin during the third quarter worth about $214,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,874 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Garmin by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,157 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,486,000 after purchasing an additional 2,466 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In other Garmin news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 10,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.23, for a total value of $2,151,185.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 135,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,878,171.40. This trade represents a 7.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Patrick Desbois sold 3,678 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.40, for a total transaction of $773,851.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 61,798 shares in the company, valued at $13,002,299.20. The trade was a 5.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 16,594 shares of company stock worth $3,437,592 in the last three months. 19.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of GRMN stock opened at $214.73 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.00. Garmin Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $169.26 and a fifty-two week high of $261.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $206.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $220.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GRMN shares. Longbow Research upgraded Garmin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised shares of Garmin from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $208.00 to $217.00 in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Garmin in a report on Friday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $193.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Garmin in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.40.

About Garmin

Garmin Ltd. is a technology company best known for designing and manufacturing navigation, communication and information devices that leverage global positioning system (GPS) technology. The company serves a diverse set of markets including consumer fitness and wearables, automotive navigation, aviation avionics, marine electronics and outdoor handheld devices. Garmin’s products combine hardware, mapping and software services to deliver location-aware solutions for personal, recreational and professional uses.

Garmin’s product lineup includes wearable fitness and multisport watches (Forerunner, Fenix, Venu), cycling computers and accessories (Edge, Varia), handheld and handheld-mounted GPS devices for outdoor activities, automotive and portable navigation units, marine chartplotters and fishfinders, and certified avionics for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.