Swedbank AB Lowers Holdings in Garmin Ltd. $GRMN

Key Points

• Swedbank AB cut its Garmin stake by 10% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,353 shares and ending with 111,499 shares valued at about $22.6 million.
• Garmin posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, reporting EPS of $2.08 versus the $1.84 estimate and revenue of $1.75 billion, up 14% year over year.
• Insiders and institutions remain active in the stock: Garmin’s CEO and an EVP both sold shares recently, while several institutional investors increased holdings and hedge funds still own 81.6% of the company.

Swedbank AB decreased its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,499 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 12,353 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 0.06% of Garmin worth $22,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Garmin by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 347,325 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $70,312,000 after buying an additional 17,162 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Garmin by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 26,107 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $5,296,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 200,083 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $40,587,000 after purchasing an additional 6,126 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 21,118 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $4,284,000 after purchasing an additional 2,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sun Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter worth $416,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 19,914 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.58, for a total transaction of $5,009,964.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 124,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,214,788.50. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Matthew Munn sold 5,275 shares of the company's 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 9,876 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,478,579.72. This trade represents a 34.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 40,725 shares of company stock valued at $10,213,222 in the last 90 days. 15.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Garmin Price Performance

GRMN stock opened at $240.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.94. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $186.67 and a 1-year high of $273.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $246.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $222.86.

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

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 12th. Garmin's dividend payout ratio is 40.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GRMN. Morgan Stanley set a $249.00 price target on Garmin in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Garmin in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Garmin from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Garmin from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One 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 MarketBeat, Garmin presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $268.40.

About Garmin

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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