Garmin Ltd. $GRMN Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 193,957 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,539 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Garmin worth $47,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin in the third quarter valued at about $97,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Garmin during the third quarter worth about $217,000. National Pension Service grew its position in Garmin by 6.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 291,878 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $71,866,000 after buying an additional 18,014 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Garmin by 7.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 48,328 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $11,899,000 after buying an additional 3,339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Longbow Research raised Garmin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays upgraded Garmin from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $208.00 to $217.00 in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Garmin in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Garmin in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Garmin from $193.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.40.

Garmin Price Performance

NYSE:GRMN opened at $205.11 on Thursday. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $169.26 and a 1-year high of $261.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.57. The firm has a market cap of $39.45 billion, a PE ratio of 25.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.26, for a total transaction of $512,556.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 28,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,964,214.16. This represents a 7.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 10,431 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.23, for a total transaction of $2,151,185.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 135,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,878,171.40. This represents a 7.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,594 shares of company stock worth $3,437,592. 15.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Garmin

Garmin Ltd. is a technology company best known for designing and manufacturing navigation, communication and information devices that leverage global positioning system (GPS) technology. The company serves a diverse set of markets including consumer fitness and wearables, automotive navigation, aviation avionics, marine electronics and outdoor handheld devices. Garmin’s products combine hardware, mapping and software services to deliver location-aware solutions for personal, recreational and professional uses.

Garmin’s product lineup includes wearable fitness and multisport watches (Forerunner, Fenix, Venu), cycling computers and accessories (Edge, Varia), handheld and handheld-mounted GPS devices for outdoor activities, automotive and portable navigation units, marine chartplotters and fishfinders, and certified avionics for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.