Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Takes $1.73 Million Position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 13,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,729,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Garmin by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 27,689 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,559,000 after purchasing an additional 5,985 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Garmin by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 33,415 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,237,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin in the fourth quarter valued at about $147,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Garmin by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Garmin by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 932,299 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $119,838,000 after purchasing an additional 6,858 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.15, for a total value of $2,192,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 623,834 shares in the company, valued at $91,173,339.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 5,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $708,727.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,241.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan Burrell sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.15, for a total transaction of $2,192,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 623,834 shares in the company, valued at $91,173,339.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 99,476 shares of company stock worth $14,166,944. 19.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GRMN opened at $145.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $27.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $95.40 and a 12 month high of $149.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.32.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.32. Garmin had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Garmin’s payout ratio is 43.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on GRMN. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barrington Research lifted their target price on shares of Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.33.

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.