Forsta AP Fonden Has $6.69 Million Stock Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden has reduced its stake in Garmin Ltd. by 4.9%, now holding 30,800 shares valued at approximately $6.7 million after selling 1,600 shares.
• Several other hedge funds have increased their positions in Garmin, with Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC and Golden State Wealth Management LLC showing significant increases of 46.7% and 255.2% respectively in the first quarter.
• Garmin recently declared a $0.90 quarterly dividend, which reflects a 1.5% yield and a payout ratio of approximately 44.39% based on current earnings.

Forsta AP Fonden decreased its holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,800 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Garmin were worth $6,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Garmin by 2.0% during 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 during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,708,495 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $352,394,000 after buying an additional 286,765 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Garmin by 15.6% in 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 valued at $206,074,000 after acquiring an additional 135,135 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Garmin by 0.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 892,606 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $193,812,000 after buying an additional 2,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 25,047.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 885,456 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $192,259,000 after acquiring an additional 881,935 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Garmin Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE:GRMN traded up $4.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $233.09. The stock had a trading volume of 587,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 904,124. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $160.94 and a 52 week high of $246.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.67.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 20.00% and a net margin of 23.21%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GRMN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Garmin from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Garmin from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $167.00 price objective (up from $152.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $222.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $1,605,471.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 141,626 shares in the company, valued at $28,785,484.50. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $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. 19.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.