Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Garmin Ltd. $GRMN

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Garmin Ltd. by 58.0% during the first quarter, acquiring 82,334 additional shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately $48.7 million.
• Garmin recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.17 EPS, exceeding estimates, with revenues increasing by 20.4% year-over-year to $1.81 billion.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $3.60 and a yield of 1.5%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 58.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 224,387 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 82,334 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of Garmin worth $48,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in Garmin by 1,633.3% in the 1st quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 156 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Garmin in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in shares of Garmin in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Garmin during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Garmin from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $167.00 price target (up previously from $152.00) on shares of Garmin in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Garmin from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $222.00.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In other Garmin news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total value of $399,685.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 29,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,266,390. The trade was a 6.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company's stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

GRMN stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $232.23. The stock had a trading volume of 229,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 938,848. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.02. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $160.94 and a 52-week high of $246.50. The stock has a market cap of $44.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.99.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Garmin's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.39%.

Garmin Company Profile

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.