Denali Advisors LLC Invests $179,000 in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,204 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 1.4% during the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 26,859 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,998,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 29.4% during the first quarter. Integrity Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,370 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 0.9% during the first quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management now owns 87,609 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $13,042,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its position in Garmin by 15.4% in the first quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 16,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 2,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Garmin in the first quarter worth about $924,000. 73.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total transaction of $674,683.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,551,530.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Garmin news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total value of $379,830.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,256.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick Desbois sold 4,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.52, for a total value of $674,683.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,551,530.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GRMN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Garmin from $140.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. StockNews.com raised Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America cut Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Garmin from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.83.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of GRMN traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $161.15. 442,463 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 864,560. The company has a market cap of $30.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $99.61 and a 52-week high of $171.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $162.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.74.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 24.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.77 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.31%.

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.