Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Takes $40.32 Million Position in Garmin Ltd. $GRMN

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. has acquired a new stake in Garmin Ltd. worth approximately $40.32 million, owning about 0.10% of the company.
• Garmin's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.17, exceeding estimates, with revenue rising by 20.4% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors now own 81.60% of Garmin's stock, indicating strong investor confidence in the company.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 185,705 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $40,322,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned 0.10% of Garmin as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GRMN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 2.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 357,458 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,862,153 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $404,329,000 after purchasing an additional 153,267 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Garmin by 79.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,585,170 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $340,574,000 after acquiring an additional 700,967 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Garmin by 15.6% during the fourth 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 worth $206,074,000 after purchasing an additional 135,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 0.3% in the first 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 acquiring 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

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Garmin from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $167.00 price target (up previously from $152.00) on shares of Garmin in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Garmin from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $222.00.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $1,605,471.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 141,626 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,266,390. This trade represents a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,960 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,918 in the last three months. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company's stock.

Garmin Price Performance

NYSE:GRMN traded down $0.35 on Wednesday, hitting $238.15. 166,996 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 931,128. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $160.94 and a 52 week high of $246.50. The company has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $228.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.20.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 20.00% and a net margin of 23.21%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. Garmin has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.000-8.000 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.