Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases New Shares in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor 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 portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GRMN. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 9.6% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,116 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Garmin by 17.5% in the first 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 boosted its holdings in Garmin by 6.6% in the first 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 boosted its holdings in Garmin by 0.8% in the first 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. boosted its holdings in Garmin by 378.8% in the first 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. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Garmin Price Performance

Garmin stock traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $139.73. 277,761 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 915,564. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.80 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a 12-month low of $94.89 and a 12-month high of $149.54. The business’s 50-day moving average is $140.20 and its 200-day moving average is $126.02.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is 43.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Garmin news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,319 shares in the company, valued at $21,379,016.61. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total transaction of $2,233,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 653,834 shares in the company, valued at $97,349,344.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the 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 owns 159,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,476 shares of company stock worth $14,166,944 over the last quarter. 19.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on GRMN. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $175.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Barrington Research upped their price target 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 upped their price target on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.