Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 12,870 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,905 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,870 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $10,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,067,708 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,726,645,000 after purchasing an additional 215,344 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Garmin by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,438,796 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $913,544,000 after buying an additional 75,332 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at $396,184,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Garmin by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 889,838 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $183,538,000 after acquiring an additional 14,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Garmin by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 675,950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $139,421,000 after acquiring an additional 164,818 shares in the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total value of $1,635,862.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,963,108.50. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total transaction of $1,569,833.65. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 63,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,321,353.20. This represents a 9.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094. 19.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Garmin Stock Performance

GRMN opened at $186.74 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $138.86 and a 52-week high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GRMN. Morgan Stanley raised Garmin to a “sell” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Garmin currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.80.

About Garmin

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.