Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Acquires Shares of 6,223 Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,223 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Garmin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Garmin in the third quarter worth $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 bought a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Garmin stock traded up $1.97 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $163.46. 613,974 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 858,949. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.96. The firm has a market cap of $31.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $99.61 and a 52-week high of $171.64.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.42. Garmin had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 17.26%. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.77 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Garmin’s payout ratio is 42.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GRMN shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.83.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In other Garmin news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total value of $379,830.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,010 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,256.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Garmin news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total value of $379,830.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,010 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,256.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total transaction of $674,683.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,551,530.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Garmin Company 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.