Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Shares Purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 560,985 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Garmin were worth $72,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GRMN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth $144,641,000. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its holdings in Garmin by 108.1% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,868,540 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $188,573,000 after purchasing an additional 970,527 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Garmin by 195.2% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 987,042 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $117,073,000 after purchasing an additional 652,700 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Garmin by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,276,118 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,049,121,000 after purchasing an additional 365,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Garmin by 5.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,798,228 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $545,971,000 after purchasing an additional 355,087 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on GRMN. StockNews.com raised Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barrington Research upped their target price on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Garmin news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total value of $217,656.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total value of $217,656.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 623,834 shares in the company, valued at $91,173,339.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944. Insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Trading Down 0.8 %

Garmin stock opened at $141.02 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $139.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.92. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $94.89 and a 52 week high of $149.54. The stock has a market cap of $27.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.98.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.32. Garmin had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 24.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is 43.52%.

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.