Captrust Financial Advisors Buys 50,173 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 817,902 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 50,173 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors owned about 0.43% of Garmin worth $168,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Garmin in the third quarter valued at approximately $501,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Garmin during the 3rd quarter valued at about $185,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Garmin by 35.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 135,477 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $22,755,000 after acquiring an additional 35,703 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Garmin by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 199,713 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $35,155,000 after acquiring an additional 5,965 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Garmin by 78.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 493 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Garmin Price Performance

NYSE GRMN traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $188.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 928,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 874,822. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $158.38 and a 52-week high of $246.50. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $201.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin's payout ratio is 47.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Garmin from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $194.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $609,677.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at $1,817,180.32. This trade represents a 25.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total transaction of $1,569,833.65. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 63,048 shares in the company, valued at $14,321,353.20. The trade was a 9.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094. Company insiders own 15.38% of the company's stock.

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.