Narwhal Capital Management Acquires 13,391 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Narwhal Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 174.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,054 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,391 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management's holdings in Garmin were worth $2,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 213.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 41,557 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $5,342,000 after purchasing an additional 28,301 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Garmin by 42.7% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 125,389 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $13,191,000 after acquiring an additional 37,532 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Garmin by 62.7% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 57,449 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $6,044,000 after acquiring an additional 22,130 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Garmin by 118.1% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 232,315 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $24,440,000 after acquiring an additional 125,812 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,536,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GRMN. StockNews.com upgraded Garmin from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Barrington Research upped their price objective on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Garmin from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $135.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $175.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $139.00.

Garmin Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GRMN traded up $2.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $147.53. The company had a trading volume of 603,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 973,372. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $94.89 and a 12 month high of $149.54. The stock has a market cap of $28.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.58.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.32. Garmin had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 24.67%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Garmin's payout ratio is presently 43.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total transaction of $217,656.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Garmin news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total value of $217,656.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 5,267 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $708,727.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,085,241.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944. 19.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.