Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Trims Stock Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lowered its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 58.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 179,400 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 251,788 shares during the period. Garmin accounts for about 0.5% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. owned 0.09% of Garmin worth $38,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GRMN. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Garmin by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,943 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $904,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Garmin by 192.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,551 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,311 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Garmin by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,222 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $3,759,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its position in Garmin by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 24,224 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $4,996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Garmin Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of GRMN traded up $2.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $227.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 807,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 907,401. The stock has a market cap of $43.89 billion, a PE ratio of 29.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.97. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $160.71 and a 52 week high of $246.50. The company's fifty day moving average price is $206.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.47.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during 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 company's revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Garmin's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on GRMN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Garmin from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $214.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $1,605,471.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 141,626 shares in the company, valued at $28,785,484.50. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.