Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,293 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 195,012 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 1,293 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.10% of Garmin worth $42,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GRMN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter worth about $396,184,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 25,047.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 885,456 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $192,259,000 after purchasing an additional 881,935 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 673.4% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 441,318 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $95,823,000 after purchasing an additional 384,258 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,708,495 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $352,394,000 after purchasing an additional 286,765 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 164.7% in the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 398,145 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $82,121,000 after purchasing an additional 247,726 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Garmin 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,266,390. This trade represents a 6.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 141,626 shares in the company, valued at $28,785,484.50. The trade was a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of GRMN stock traded up $0.69 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $217.80. The company had a trading volume of 768,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 908,047. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $160.71 and a 12 month high of $246.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's fifty day moving average is $202.94 and its 200 day moving average is $207.10.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.01). The business 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 firm's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Garmin's dividend payout ratio is 47.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Garmin from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $206.00.

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.