5,004 Garmin Ltd. $GRMN Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Sterling Capital Management cut its Garmin stake by 37% in the third quarter, selling 5,004 shares and retaining 8,505 shares valued at approximately $2.44 million. Institutional investors collectively own 81.6% of Garmin’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive but mixed, with Garmin holding a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $313.71. Recent ratings ranged from “Hold” and “Equal Weight” to Arete Research’s “Buy” rating with a $335 target.
• Garmin reported quarterly EPS of $2.81, beating estimates by $0.51, while revenue rose 11.4% year over year to $2.02 billion. The stock opened at $294.19, near its 52-week high of $314.28, while company insiders sold more than $4.8 million of shares over the past 90 days.

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 37.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,505 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 5,004 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Garmin were worth $2,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Garmin by 73.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,295,199 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $300,499,000 after purchasing an additional 549,954 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Garmin by 82.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,017,314 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $236,027,000 after purchasing an additional 459,980 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Garmin by 282.4% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 272,512 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $63,190,000 after buying an additional 201,240 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Garmin by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 351,241 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $81,491,000 after buying an additional 119,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in Garmin during the 3rd quarter worth $20,240,000. 81.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GRMN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Garmin from $249.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Garmin in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Garmin from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Arete Research initiated coverage on Garmin in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $335.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Garmin in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $313.71.

Garmin Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Garmin stock opened at $294.19 on Monday. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $186.67 and a 12 month high of $314.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.36. The stock has a market cap of $56.73 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.82.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.51. Garmin had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 24.47%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 4,029 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $1,208,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,038,100. The trade was a 3.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 9,941 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.36, for a total value of $2,975,937.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 29,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,832,916.16. This trade represents a 25.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 16,108 shares of company stock worth $4,808,799 in the last ninety days. 14.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Garmin Company Profile

Garmin Ltd. NYSE: GRMN designs and manufactures GPS-enabled technology and smart devices for fitness, outdoor recreation, aviation, marine, and automotive markets. Its product portfolio includes smartwatches, cycling computers, sports and activity trackers, satellite communication devices, navigation systems, and related sensors and accessories.

The company also develops aviation systems and avionics, marine chartplotters and sonar equipment, and navigation and infotainment solutions for vehicle manufacturers.

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