North Dakota State Investment Board Invests $1.13 Million in Garmin Ltd. $GRMN

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board initiated a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter, buying 5,589 shares valued at about $1.13 million.
• Garmin's latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $2.08 versus the $1.84 consensus and revenue of $1.75 billion, up 14% year over year.
• Despite strong earnings, insiders have been selling shares and analysts remain mixed, with Garmin carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $269.40.

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $1,134,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Garmin by 2.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,197,564 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $4,973,044,000 after acquiring an additional 499,235 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Garmin by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,250,844 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,785,304,000 after acquiring an additional 126,677 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Garmin by 1.1% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,494,519 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $367,964,000 after acquiring an additional 16,622 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position in shares of Garmin by 0.4% during the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 1,419,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $296,250,000 after acquiring an additional 5,213 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Garmin by 15.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,348,955 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $330,373,000 after acquiring an additional 182,548 shares during the period. 81.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Garmin Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of GRMN stock opened at $236.95 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $45.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.94. The company's 50 day moving average is $244.14 and its 200 day moving average is $222.31. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $186.67 and a 52-week high of $273.32.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.24. Garmin had a net margin of 23.26% and a return on equity of 20.07%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. Garmin's revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Garmin has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.350-9.350 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Garmin news, EVP Matthew Munn sold 5,275 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.97, for a total value of $1,323,866.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,876 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,478,579.72. The trade was a 34.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 3,487 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total transaction of $877,538.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 28,049 shares in the company, valued at $7,058,811.34. This represents a 11.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,246 shares of company stock valued at $10,110,041. 15.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Garmin from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $249.00 price objective on shares of Garmin in a report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Garmin in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Garmin in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $269.40.

Garmin Profile

Garmin Ltd. is a technology company best known for designing and manufacturing navigation, communication and information devices that leverage global positioning system (GPS) technology. The company serves a diverse set of markets including consumer fitness and wearables, automotive navigation, aviation avionics, marine electronics and outdoor handheld devices. Garmin's products combine hardware, mapping and software services to deliver location-aware solutions for personal, recreational and professional uses.

Garmin's product lineup includes wearable fitness and multisport watches (Forerunner, Fenix, Venu), cycling computers and accessories (Edge, Varia), handheld and handheld-mounted GPS devices for outdoor activities, automotive and portable navigation units, marine chartplotters and fishfinders, and certified avionics for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

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