34,408 Shares in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Acquired by Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.

Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 34,408 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,423,000. Garmin accounts for approximately 4.6% of Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GRMN. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,116 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Garmin by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in Garmin by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 20,329 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Garmin by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,149 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $174,989,000 after acquiring an additional 11,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Garmin by 378.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 37,785 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,414,000 after acquiring an additional 29,893 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total transaction of $349,710.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $969,781.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $2,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 758,834 shares in the company, valued at $106,236,760. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total transaction of $349,710.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $969,781.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

GRMN stock traded down $0.99 during trading on Friday, reaching $139.73. 277,761 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 915,564. The company has a market cap of $26.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $94.89 and a 52-week high of $149.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $140.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.02.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.32. Garmin had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on GRMN shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barrington Research lifted their price objective on shares of Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.33.

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.