iA Global Asset Management Inc. Takes $451,000 Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Key Points

• iA Global Asset Management Inc. has acquired 2,078 shares of Garmin Ltd., valued at approximately $451,000, marking a new investment during the first quarter.
• Analysts have given mixed ratings on Garmin, with a consensus price target of $222.00 and ratings ranging from "sell" to "strong buy." Morgan Stanley recently raised their target price from $172 to $186.
• Garmin reported a 20.4% year-over-year increase in revenue in the last quarter, with earnings per share beating estimates at $2.17, compared to an expected $1.90.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,078 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $451,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GRMN. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Garmin during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Garmin during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Garmin during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GRMN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Garmin from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $167.00 price target (up from $152.00) on shares of Garmin in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Garmin from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $222.00.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GRMN traded up $3.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $232.55. 631,035 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 893,891. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $160.94 and a 52-week high of $246.50. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $215.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.45. The company has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.99.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during 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 firm's revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Garmin's payout ratio is currently 44.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In other news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of the firm's 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 directly owned 29,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 15.38% 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.