Aigen Investment Management LP Takes $758,000 Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP has acquired a new stake in Garmin Ltd., purchasing 3,492 shares valued at approximately $758,000.
• Significant increases in stakes by other institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Congress Asset Management Co., highlight growing interest in Garmin, with institutional investors now holding 81.60% of the company's stock.
• Garmin reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $2.17, exceeding analyst expectations, alongside a recently declared dividend of $0.90 per share.

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,492 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $758,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Garmin by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,425,166 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $4,000,656,000 after acquiring an additional 357,458 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Garmin by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,862,153 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $404,329,000 after purchasing an additional 153,267 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Garmin by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,708,495 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $352,394,000 after purchasing an additional 286,765 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Garmin by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 999,096 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $206,074,000 after purchasing an additional 135,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Garmin by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 892,606 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $193,812,000 after purchasing an additional 2,768 shares in the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GRMN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $167.00 price target (up previously from $152.00) on shares of Garmin in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Garmin from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Garmin from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $222.00.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $1,605,471.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 141,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,785,484.50. The trade was a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total value of $399,685.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 29,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,266,390. This trade represents a 6.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Garmin Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:GRMN traded down $2.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $232.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 633,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 894,582. The firm has a market cap of $44.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.99. Garmin Ltd. has a 1 year low of $160.94 and a 1 year high of $246.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $218.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.10.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.27. Garmin had a return on equity of 20.00% and a net margin of 23.21%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Garmin's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.39%.

About Garmin

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.