Rafferty Asset Management LLC Purchases 1,619 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,281 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Garmin were worth $2,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Garmin by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,067,708 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $3,726,645,000 after purchasing an additional 215,344 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Garmin by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,438,796 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $913,544,000 after acquiring an additional 75,332 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at $396,184,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Garmin by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,708,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $352,475,000 after acquiring an additional 149,210 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Garmin by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,708,495 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $352,394,000 after acquiring an additional 286,765 shares during the period. 81.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GRMN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Garmin from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price target on Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $194.80.

Garmin Stock Performance

Garmin stock opened at $204.90 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $198.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.64. The company has a market cap of $39.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.99. Garmin Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $158.38 and a fifty-two week high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. Garmin's payout ratio is presently 47.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $609,677.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,817,180.32. The trade was a 25.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total value of $1,635,862.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,525 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,963,108.50. This trade represents a 4.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094. 15.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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