Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 14,200 Shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 889,838 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,200 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.46% of Garmin worth $183,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in Garmin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in Garmin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Garmin by 578.6% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 190 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $14,321,353.20. This represents a 9.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total value of $1,635,862.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,963,108.50. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,274 shares of company stock worth $5,242,686. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Garmin Trading Down 1.3 %

GRMN stock opened at $221.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $216.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $199.03. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $138.86 and a 1-year high of $246.50.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Garmin Company 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.