Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 85 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Meritage Portfolio Management trimmed its holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,815 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Garmin were worth $4,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GRMN. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Garmin by 169.5% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in Garmin in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Garmin by 35.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 380 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. 73.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In other news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.15, for a total transaction of $2,192,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 623,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,173,339.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 159,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 623,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,173,339.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 99,476 shares of company stock worth $14,166,944. Corporate insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

NYSE GRMN traded up $0.24 during trading on Thursday, hitting $143.03. The stock had a trading volume of 528,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 938,937. The company has a market capitalization of $27.43 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $141.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.21. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $94.89 and a 12 month high of $149.54.

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

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is 43.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on GRMN shares. StockNews.com upgraded Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barrington Research boosted their target price on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Five 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 MarketBeat.com, Garmin has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.33.

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.