Alterity Financial Group LLC Invests $271,000 in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Alterity Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,107 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Garmin by 169.5% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC raised its stake in Garmin by 107.1% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 321 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in Garmin in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Trading Up 0.6 %

GRMN stock opened at $148.93 on Friday. Garmin Ltd. has a 12-month low of $94.89 and a 12-month high of $149.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.97.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 24.67%. Garmin’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Garmin’s payout ratio is 43.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GRMN. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $175.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Garmin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Barrington Research raised their target price on shares of Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total transaction of $217,656.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,379,016.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total value of $217,656.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 159,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,379,016.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $2,233,350.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 653,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,349,344.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 99,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,166,944. 19.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.