Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Purchases New Stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,268 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $468,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at $396,184,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Garmin by 20.2% in the fourth 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. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in Garmin by 164.7% in the fourth 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. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Garmin by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 675,950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $139,421,000 after purchasing an additional 164,818 shares during the period. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In other Garmin news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $609,677.79. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. This trade represents a 25.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total transaction of $625,957.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,008,550.80. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 15.38% of the company's stock.

Garmin Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of GRMN traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $204.90. The company had a trading volume of 518,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 880,314. The stock has a market cap of $39.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.59. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $158.38 and a 1-year high of $246.50.

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

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Garmin from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $194.80.

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.