Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Shares Sold by Convergence Investment Partners LLC

Convergence Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 13.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,975 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 1,685 shares during the quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Garmin were worth $2,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GRMN. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 37.6% during the 1st quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,598 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson bought a new position in Garmin in the first quarter valued at about $220,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in Garmin by 2.3% in the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 110,874 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $24,081,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 36.6% in the first quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,923 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 40.9% in the first quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,401 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. 81.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on GRMN. 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. Barclays dropped 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $214.75.

Garmin Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:GRMN traded up $3.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $235.57. 596,733 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 740,938. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $210.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.45. The company has a market cap of $45.36 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.97. Garmin Ltd. has a 12-month low of $160.71 and a 12-month high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Garmin had a return on equity of 19.21% and a net margin of 22.76%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Garmin's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.37%.

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.