M&G Plc Lowers Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

M&G Plc lessened its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 10.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 233,045 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 26,870 shares during the quarter. M&G Plc’s holdings in Garmin were worth $37,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in Garmin during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 73.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on GRMN. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Bank of America lowered shares of Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Garmin has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In other news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,256.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total transaction of $674,683.52. Following the sale, 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GRMN traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $169.72. 538,776 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 855,726. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $99.61 and a one year high of $179.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $165.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.54.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.09% and a net margin of 24.36%. Garmin’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.31%.

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.