Citigroup Inc. Raises Stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Garmin Ltd. by 201.9%, now owning 276,192 shares valued at approximately $59.97 million.
• Major institutional investors have significantly modified their positions in Garmin, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting their stake by 25,047.9% and Congress Asset Management increasing theirs by 673.4%.
• Garmin reported $2.17 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, resulting in a yield of 1.5%.

Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 201.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 276,192 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 184,719 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.14% of Garmin worth $59,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 1,633.3% in the 1st quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 156 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Garmin news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $1,605,471.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 141,626 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,785,484.50. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total transaction of $399,685.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,146 shares in the company, valued at $6,266,390. The trade was a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 15.38% of the company's stock.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of GRMN traded down $1.30 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $235.28. The stock had a trading volume of 539,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 943,991. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $160.94 and a 1-year high of $246.50. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $217.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $209.85. The company has a market cap of $45.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.99.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.27. Garmin had a net margin of 23.21% and a return on equity of 20.00%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. The company's revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.