Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Grows Holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP grew its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 609.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,540 shares during the period. Garmin accounts for approximately 1.3% of Wakefield Asset Management LLLP’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP’s holdings in Garmin were worth $3,972,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GRMN. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 578.6% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 190 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Garmin during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Garmin Stock Performance

Garmin stock opened at $223.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $214.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.16. Garmin Ltd. has a 1 year low of $134.11 and a 1 year high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is 41.04%.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total transaction of $1,569,833.65. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 63,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,321,353.20. This trade represents a 9.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.99, for a total value of $366,270.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,743,019.88. The trade was a 6.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,874 shares of company stock valued at $3,571,966. 19.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GRMN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Garmin to a “sell” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.80.

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.