Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 860 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. cut its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,359 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 860 shares during the period. Garmin accounts for about 5.0% of Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Garmin were worth $6,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its stake in Garmin by 864.3% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 135 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Garmin Trading Up 11.2 %

GRMN stock opened at $193.10 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $212.72 and its 200 day moving average is $203.97. The stock has a market cap of $37.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $138.86 and a 1-year high of $246.50.

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

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is 49.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $609,677.79. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. This trade represents a 25.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total value of $1,635,862.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,963,108.50. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094. 19.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.