Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Stock Position in Garmin Ltd. $GRMN

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,328 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,339 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Garmin were worth $11,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GRMN. Quaker Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Garmin by 200.0% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 132 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Garmin by 62.2% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 133 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 1,530.8% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 212 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Garmin during the 3rd quarter worth $54,000. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Garmin Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE GRMN opened at $201.48 on Friday. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $169.26 and a 52 week high of $261.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $204.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $221.99. The firm has a market cap of $38.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.00.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.99. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 19.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Garmin in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Garmin in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Longbow Research raised shares of Garmin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised shares of Garmin from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $208.00 to $217.00 in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Garmin from $193.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 10,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.23, for a total transaction of $2,151,185.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 135,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,878,171.40. This trade represents a 7.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,485 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.26, for a total value of $512,556.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 28,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,964,214.16. This represents a 7.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,594 shares of company stock worth $3,437,592. Insiders own 15.38% of the company’s stock.

About Garmin

Garmin Ltd. is a technology company best known for designing and manufacturing navigation, communication and information devices that leverage global positioning system (GPS) technology. The company serves a diverse set of markets including consumer fitness and wearables, automotive navigation, aviation avionics, marine electronics and outdoor handheld devices. Garmin’s products combine hardware, mapping and software services to deliver location-aware solutions for personal, recreational and professional uses.

Garmin’s product lineup includes wearable fitness and multisport watches (Forerunner, Fenix, Venu), cycling computers and accessories (Edge, Varia), handheld and handheld-mounted GPS devices for outdoor activities, automotive and portable navigation units, marine chartplotters and fishfinders, and certified avionics for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.