TCW Group Inc. Sells 3,545 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Garmin Ltd. by 7.0%, now holding 47,361 shares valued at approximately $10.28 million following the sale of 3,545 shares.
• Several hedge funds have notably increased their positions in Garmin, with GAMMA Investing LLC ramping up their stake by 25,047.9% to own over 885,000 shares valued at $192.26 million.
• Garmin announced a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, which indicates an annualized dividend yield of 1.53% and a payout ratio of 47.37%.

TCW Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,361 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 3,545 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.'s holdings in Garmin were worth $10,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at $396,184,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Garmin by 25,047.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 885,456 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $192,259,000 after buying an additional 881,935 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Garmin by 673.4% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 441,318 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $95,823,000 after buying an additional 384,258 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 286,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 164.7% during the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 398,145 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $82,121,000 after purchasing an additional 247,726 shares during the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GRMN shares. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $167.00 target price (up from $152.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Garmin from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Garmin from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $222.00.

Garmin Stock Performance

GRMN traded down $3.05 on Thursday, reaching $218.44. The company had a trading volume of 538,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 950,013. Garmin Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $160.71 and a fifty-two week high of $246.50. The stock has a market cap of $42.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.97. The company's fifty day moving average is $211.94 and its 200 day moving average is $208.90.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.27. Garmin had a net margin of 22.76% and a return on equity of 19.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. The business's revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Garmin's payout ratio is presently 47.37%.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,859 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 29,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,266,390. This trade represents a 6.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,899 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $1,605,471.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 141,626 shares in the company, valued at $28,785,484.50. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 15.38% of the company's stock.

Garmin Company 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.