Royal Bank of Canada Buys 47,723 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 301,818 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,723 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.16% of Garmin worth $62,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in Garmin by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 14,281 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at $2,627,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at $18,974,000. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at $394,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Garmin by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 33,106 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,828,000 after acquiring an additional 6,645 shares during the period. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on GRMN shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Garmin from $159.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays decreased their target price on Garmin from $188.00 to $152.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Garmin from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Garmin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.80.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of GRMN stock opened at $203.69 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $198.09 and its 200-day moving average is $208.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.22 billion, a PE ratio of 27.86, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.99. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $158.38 and a 52 week high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.01). Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Garmin news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was 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 represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,525 shares in the company, valued at $33,963,108.50. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 15.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.