Gotham Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Gotham Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 29.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,532 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 13,404 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $6,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GRMN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth about $396,184,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Garmin by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,708,495 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $352,394,000 after buying an additional 286,765 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Garmin by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 398,145 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $82,121,000 after acquiring an additional 247,726 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $3,726,645,000 after acquiring an additional 215,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Garmin by 32.2% during 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 during the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Garmin Stock Performance

GRMN stock opened at $200.50 on Wednesday. Garmin Ltd. has a 1 year low of $158.38 and a 1 year high of $246.50. The firm has a market cap of $38.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.03.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.01). Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. Garmin’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.37%.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total value of $1,569,833.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,963,108.50. This represents a 4.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094. Insiders own 15.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GRMN. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays dropped their price target on Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Garmin from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.80.

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.