Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Position Lessened by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 54.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,811 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 98,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Garmin were worth $17,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its stake in Garmin by 864.3% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 135 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in Garmin by 1,633.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Garmin during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Garmin during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Garmin during the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. 81.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GRMN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Garmin from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays decreased their price target on Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $214.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 29,146 shares in the company, valued at $6,266,390. This represents a 6.00% 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, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $28,785,484.50. The trade was a 5.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of GRMN traded up $2.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $227.94. 807,667 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 907,401. The company has a market capitalization of $43.89 billion, a PE ratio of 29.99, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $206.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.47. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $160.71 and a one year high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.21% and a net margin of 22.76%. The business's revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Garmin's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.37%.

Garmin 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.