HM Payson & Co. Sells 1,700 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

HM Payson & Co. lessened its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 32.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,517 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 1,700 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.'s holdings in Garmin were worth $764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GRMN. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter worth about $127,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Garmin by 46.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 89,715 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $19,480,000 after buying an additional 28,543 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Garmin by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,521 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP lifted its holdings in Garmin by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 73,265 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $15,112,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 60,280 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $12,433,000 after purchasing an additional 2,841 shares during the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of GRMN traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $214.30. The stock had a trading volume of 917,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 906,316. The company has a market capitalization of $41.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $201.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.94. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $160.71 and a 52 week high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.01). Garmin had a net margin of 22.76% and a return on equity of 19.21%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Garmin's dividend payout ratio is 47.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Garmin from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $206.00.

Insider Activity

In other Garmin news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $28,785,484.50. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 19.54% of the company's stock.

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.