CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Purchases 13,456 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 246,589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,456 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.13% of Garmin worth $50,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GRMN. Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Garmin during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,137,000. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at $734,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Garmin by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 431,188 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $88,937,000 after purchasing an additional 128,672 shares during the period. Baskin Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Garmin by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 148,957 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $30,724,000 after buying an additional 4,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Garmin by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 9,075 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,872,000 after buying an additional 2,910 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $609,677.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. This represents a 25.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total transaction of $1,635,862.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,525 shares in the company, valued at $33,963,108.50. This trade represents a 4.60 % 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 valued at $5,486,094 over the last three months. 19.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Garmin Price Performance

Garmin stock opened at $190.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $36.66 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $209.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $204.41. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $138.86 and a one year high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. Garmin’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 firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is 49.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Garmin from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Garmin to a “sell” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $202.80.

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.