Vest Financial LLC Decreases Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Vest Financial LLC decreased its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 68.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,633 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 114,676 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Garmin were worth $11,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GRMN. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Garmin by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 241 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Garmin by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 522 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Garmin by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,185 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Garmin by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 20,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $4,160,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Street Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Garmin by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,201 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Garmin Stock Up 1.0%

GRMN traded up $2.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $207.50. 750,745 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 887,770. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.39, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $158.38 and a 1-year high of $246.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $195.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.06.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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). Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Garmin's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GRMN. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Garmin from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Garmin has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $206.00.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $609,677.79. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at $1,817,180.32. The trade was a 25.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 15.38% of the company's stock.

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.