Nomura Holdings Inc. Makes New Investment in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,066 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $1,045,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at about $364,000. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 169.3% in the 4th quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 17,941 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $3,701,000 after purchasing an additional 11,278 shares during the period. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 26,396 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $5,443,000 after purchasing an additional 9,141 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its holdings in Garmin by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 6,535 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,348,000 after buying an additional 1,466 shares during the period. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Garmin Stock Down 1.4%

GRMN traded down $2.87 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $200.89. 720,555 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 881,893. Garmin Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $158.38 and a fifty-two week high of $246.50. The stock has a market cap of $38.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.48, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.99. The business's 50 day moving average is $198.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.60.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Garmin's payout ratio is currently 47.37%.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $609,677.79. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. This trade represents a 25.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total value of $1,569,833.65. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 63,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,321,353.20. This represents a 9.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094. 15.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GRMN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays dropped 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. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Garmin from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $194.80.

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.