Invesco Ltd. Raises Holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Garmin Ltd. by 9.0%, owning approximately $404 million worth of the company's shares after acquiring an additional 153,267 shares in the first quarter.
• In the same quarter, multiple large investors also raised their positions in Garmin, with Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increasing theirs by an impressive 46.7%.
• Garmin reported a quarterly EPS of $2.17, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.90, alongside a significant 20.4% revenue increase compared to the previous year.

Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,862,153 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 153,267 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.97% of Garmin worth $404,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Garmin by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,943 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,729 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 2,311 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,795,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 55.2% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 9,347 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,928,000 after acquiring an additional 3,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Garmin by 50.1% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,053 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353 shares during the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In other news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total value of $399,685.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 29,146 shares in the company, valued at $6,266,390. The trade was a 6.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Garmin Price Performance

Garmin stock traded down $2.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $232.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 633,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 894,582. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $218.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.10. 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 $44.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 2.62 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. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for 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 company's revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 44.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GRMN shares. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $167.00 price target (up from $152.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Garmin from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Garmin from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $222.00.

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.