Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Makes New $16.82 Million Investment in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 130,814 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,815,000. Garmin comprises 2.4% of Barlow Wealth Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Garmin by 213.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 41,557 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,342,000 after purchasing an additional 28,301 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Services acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter worth $2,365,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Garmin by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 125,389 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $13,191,000 after buying an additional 37,532 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth about $8,691,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Garmin by 369.6% during the fourth quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 14,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,811,000 after buying an additional 11,087 shares in the last quarter. 73.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GRMN remained flat at $169.96 during midday trading on Wednesday. 542,069 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 955,758. The stock has a market cap of $32.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $146.59 and a 200 day moving average of $130.52. Garmin Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $99.61 and a fifty-two week high of $170.87.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.42. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 24.96%. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $2,233,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 653,834 shares in the company, valued at $97,349,344.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total value of $349,710.66. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $969,781.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $2,233,350.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 653,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,349,344.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barrington Research increased their price target on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.50.

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.