Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $10.66 Million Holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN - Free Report) by 68.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,894 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,812 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Garmin were worth $10,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GRMN. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Garmin by 2.5% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,246,834 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $762,367,000 after acquiring an additional 176,510 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Garmin by 7.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,630,148 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $171,492,000 after purchasing an additional 108,427 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Garmin by 10.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,411,205 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $148,459,000 after purchasing an additional 136,929 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Garmin by 1.8% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 925,441 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $97,356,000 after purchasing an additional 15,923 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Garmin by 4.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 813,137 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $85,542,000 after purchasing an additional 33,580 shares during the period. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GRMN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Garmin from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $175.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barrington Research boosted their price target on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Five 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $142.33.

Garmin Price Performance

NYSE GRMN traded up $0.24 on Thursday, hitting $143.03. 528,226 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 938,937. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $141.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.21. Garmin Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $94.89 and a fifty-two week high of $149.54. The firm has a market cap of $27.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.98.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 24.67%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Garmin's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total value of $349,710.66. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $969,781.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $2,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 758,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,236,760. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total value of $349,710.66. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $969,781.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 99,476 shares of company stock worth $14,166,944 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 19.89% 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.