Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 9,818 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 94,522 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 9,818 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Garmin were worth $20,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 864.3% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 135 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in Garmin by 1,633.3% in the 1st quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 156 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Garmin in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of GRMN traded up $3.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $208.49. 1,109,822 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 903,061. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $199.71 and a 200-day moving average of $207.12. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $158.90 and a one year high of $246.50. The firm has a market cap of $40.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Garmin's payout ratio is 47.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,785,484.50. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 15.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GRMN. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Garmin from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Garmin currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $206.00.

Garmin Company 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.