Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Invests $3.28 Million in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado purchased a new stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,883 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $3,276,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GRMN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Garmin by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,067,708 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $3,726,645,000 after buying an additional 215,344 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Garmin by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,438,796 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $913,544,000 after buying an additional 75,332 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth $396,184,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Garmin by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,708,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $352,475,000 after purchasing an additional 149,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Garmin by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 889,838 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $183,538,000 after purchasing an additional 14,200 shares during the period. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on GRMN. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their target price on Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Garmin from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Garmin presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $194.80.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In related news, Director Matthew Munn sold 4,637 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.31, for a total transaction of $1,044,762.47. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,579,799.50. This trade represents a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $609,677.79. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at $1,817,180.32. This represents a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company's stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GRMN traded up $4.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $191.70. The company had a trading volume of 826,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 875,286. The firm has a market cap of $36.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.22, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.99. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $203.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.39. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $158.38 and a one year high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.01). Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Garmin's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.37%.

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.