Congress Asset Management Co. Has $95.82 Million Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 673.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 441,318 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 384,258 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned approximately 0.23% of Garmin worth $95,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Garmin by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 241 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in Garmin by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 522 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Garmin by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,185 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its stake in Garmin by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 20,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $4,160,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Street Partners LLC increased its stake in Garmin by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,201 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $609,677.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at $1,817,180.32. The trade was a 25.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 15.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Garmin Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:GRMN traded up $2.02 on Friday, hitting $207.50. 750,745 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 885,516. Garmin Ltd. has a 1 year low of $158.38 and a 1 year high of $246.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $195.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.05. The company has a market cap of $39.95 billion, a PE ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Garmin's dividend payout ratio is 47.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GRMN. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Garmin from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $206.00.

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.