Inceptionr LLC Sells 6,628 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Inceptionr LLC lessened its holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 84.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 6,628 shares during the period. Inceptionr LLC’s holdings in Garmin were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Garmin by 123.2% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 283,412 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $49,889,000 after purchasing an additional 156,441 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank bought a new stake in Garmin during the third quarter worth $3,137,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Garmin by 24.2% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,529 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,086,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth $734,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its position in Garmin by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 431,188 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $88,937,000 after acquiring an additional 128,672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Tigress Financial upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.80.

Garmin Price Performance

NYSE:GRMN opened at $219.51 on Monday. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $138.86 and a one year high of $246.50. The company has a market cap of $42.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $216.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $199.65.

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

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.04%.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total value of $1,569,833.65. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 63,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,321,353.20. This represents a 9.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total transaction of $625,957.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,936 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,274 shares of company stock worth $5,242,686. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

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.