Prudential PLC Reduces Stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Prudential PLC cut its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 35.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,815 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 7,108 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $2,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Garmin by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,863 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $591,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp grew its stake in Garmin by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 3,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Garmin by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 241 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in Garmin by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 522 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Garmin by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,821 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GRMN shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.80.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In other news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total value of $1,635,862.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,963,108.50. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total value of $625,957.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,008,550.80. This trade represents a 8.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094 in the last 90 days. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Garmin Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of GRMN opened at $178.18 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $34.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $138.86 and a 1-year high of $246.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $204.07.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. Garmin’s revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Garmin’s payout ratio is presently 49.25%.

About Garmin

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.