Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 3,688 Shares of Garmin Ltd. $GRMN

Key Points

• Vontobel Holding reduced its Garmin position by 12.2%, selling 3,688 shares and retaining 26,547 shares valued at approximately $7.6 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.6% of Garmin, while company insiders sold 16,108 shares worth about $4.8 million over the past three months.
• Garmin reported quarterly earnings and revenue above analyst expectations, and analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $313.71.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 12.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,547 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 3,688 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Garmin were worth $7,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Garmin by 2.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,631,843 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $378,540,000 after buying an additional 40,474 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 73.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,295,199 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $300,499,000 after buying an additional 549,954 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Garmin by 82.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,017,314 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $236,027,000 after acquiring an additional 459,980 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Garmin by 192.8% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 506,273 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $117,460,000 after acquiring an additional 333,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Garmin by 7.0% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 479,800 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $111,318,000 after acquiring an additional 31,400 shares in the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 4,029 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $1,208,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 120,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,038,100. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Joshua Maxfield sold 1,152 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.13, for a total value of $335,381.76. Following the sale, the vice president owned 15,042 shares in the company, valued at $4,379,177.46. The trade was a 7.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 16,108 shares of company stock worth $4,808,799 in the last three months. Insiders own 14.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Garmin from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Garmin in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Garmin from $249.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Garmin from $238.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Garmin in a research note on Friday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $313.71.

Garmin Trading Up 0.0%

Garmin stock opened at $285.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $55.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $186.67 and a 1-year high of $314.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $285.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $261.20.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.51. Garmin had a net margin of 24.47% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.17 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Company Profile

Garmin Ltd. is a technology company that develops products using global positioning system (GPS), satellite communications and other location-based technologies. The company serves consumers, businesses and professional users through product lines focused on fitness, outdoor recreation, aviation, marine and automotive applications.

Its offerings include smartwatches and fitness trackers, cycling computers, navigation devices, satellite communicators, outdoor handhelds, marine chartplotters and sonar systems, and aviation navigation and communication equipment.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.