Trexquant Investment LP Increases Holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Trexquant Investment LP lifted its holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 163.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,091 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 76,423 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Garmin were worth $25,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Passumpsic Savings Bank bought a new position in Garmin in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,137,000. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter worth $734,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Garmin by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 148,957 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $30,724,000 after acquiring an additional 4,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Garmin by 1,580.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 287,283 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $50,570,000 after acquiring an additional 270,186 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other Garmin news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $7,008,550.80. This represents a 8.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total value of $1,569,833.65. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 63,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,321,353.20. This trade represents a 9.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Garmin Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GRMN opened at $217.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $41.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $138.86 and a 12 month high of $246.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $217.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.28.

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

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.25%.

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.