Royal Fund Management LLC Sells 555 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Royal Fund Management LLC lessened its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 27,797 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 555 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $3,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GRMN. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Garmin by 153.8% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 291,918 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $37,737,000 after acquiring an additional 176,908 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 2.5% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,246,834 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $762,367,000 after buying an additional 176,510 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Garmin by 10.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,411,205 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $148,459,000 after buying an additional 136,929 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Garmin by 118.1% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 125,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Garmin by 7.1% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 108,427 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Up 0.4 %

Garmin stock traded up $0.64 during trading on Friday, hitting $165.97. The stock had a trading volume of 973,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 983,928. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $145.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.44. Garmin Ltd. has a 1 year low of $99.56 and a 1 year high of $166.43. The stock has a market cap of $31.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.99.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barrington Research increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America increased 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Garmin has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.50.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In other news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.15, for a total transaction of $2,192,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 623,834 shares in the company, valued at $91,173,339.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 5,267 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $708,727.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,241.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.15, for a total value of $2,192,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 623,834 shares in the company, valued at $91,173,339.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944 over the last three months. Company insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

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.