Silver Lake Advisory LLC Boosts Stock Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Silver Lake Advisory LLC raised its stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 37.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,831 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,823 shares during the period. Garmin accounts for approximately 2.1% of Silver Lake Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Silver Lake Advisory LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $3,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Garmin by 35.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 380 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in Garmin in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 466 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Garmin news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total value of $217,656.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Garmin news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total value of $349,710.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $969,781.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 99,476 shares of company stock worth $14,166,944. 19.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Garmin Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Garmin stock traded down $0.10 on Thursday, reaching $163.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 397,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 951,292. The company has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.99. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $96.04 and a 52-week high of $165.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $144.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.62.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 24.67%. The business’s revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is 43.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GRMN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barrington Research lifted their target price on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.50.

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.