Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Trims Stock Position in Garmin Ltd. $GRMN

Key Points

• Artisan Partners trimmed its Garmin stake by 2.2% in Q4, selling 130,078 shares and still holding 5.7 million shares worth about $1.16 billion.
• Garmin posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.08 versus estimates of $1.84 and revenue of $1.75 billion, up 14% year over year.
• Insider selling and mixed analyst views were also highlighted: the CFO and a director sold shares recently, while Wall Street’s consensus rating remains Moderate Buy with a $269.40 average target.

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lessened its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,699,823 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 130,078 shares during the quarter. Garmin comprises about 1.7% of Artisan Partners Limited Partnership's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 2.96% of Garmin worth $1,156,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GRMN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at $395,234,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Garmin by 649.2% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,256,668 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $309,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,938 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at $214,382,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Garmin by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,197,564 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $4,973,044,000 after purchasing an additional 499,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at $68,106,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of Garmin stock opened at $235.45 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $45.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.91. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $186.67 and a one year high of $273.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $245.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $227.66.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 23.26% and a return on equity of 20.07%. Garmin's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. Garmin has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.350-9.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.91, for a total transaction of $475,820.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 26,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,197,317.59. This represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph J. Hartnett sold 643 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.57, for a total transaction of $169,475.51. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,607,978.89. This trade represents a 2.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Garmin from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Garmin from $240.00 to $238.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $249.00 price target on shares of Garmin in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Garmin from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $269.40.

About Garmin

Garmin Ltd. is a technology company best known for designing and manufacturing navigation, communication and information devices that leverage global positioning system (GPS) technology. The company serves a diverse set of markets including consumer fitness and wearables, automotive navigation, aviation avionics, marine electronics and outdoor handheld devices. Garmin's products combine hardware, mapping and software services to deliver location-aware solutions for personal, recreational and professional uses.

Garmin's product lineup includes wearable fitness and multisport watches (Forerunner, Fenix, Venu), cycling computers and accessories (Edge, Varia), handheld and handheld-mounted GPS devices for outdoor activities, automotive and portable navigation units, marine chartplotters and fishfinders, and certified avionics for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

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