Strong Tower Advisory Services Increases Stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,535 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the quarter. Garmin comprises 0.8% of Strong Tower Advisory Services’ portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Garmin were worth $2,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GRMN. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at about $439,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter worth about $230,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at about $229,000. BNC Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Garmin by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,066 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $214,000. 81.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Garmin from $133.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Garmin from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $155.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.00.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In other news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.99, for a total value of $366,270.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,743,019.88. This trade represents a 6.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sean Biddlecombe sold 587 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.10, for a total transaction of $123,328.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,291,484.70. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of GRMN stock opened at $215.50 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.38 billion, a PE ratio of 27.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a 1 year low of $119.15 and a 1 year high of $222.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $211.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.48.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.53. Garmin had a net margin of 25.48% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.