Bcwm LLC Invests $7.19 Million in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Bcwm LLC purchased a new position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 34,855 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,189,000. Garmin accounts for 2.6% of Bcwm LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GRMN. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 229.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,203 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,992,000 after purchasing an additional 16,850 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE bought a new stake in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth $172,000. QSV Equity Investors LLC bought a new stake in Garmin in the 4th quarter worth about $225,000. Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth $933,000. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 29,272 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $6,038,000 after buying an additional 1,478 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of GRMN opened at $213.59 on Friday. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $138.86 and a 1-year high of $246.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.10 billion, a PE ratio of 29.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $217.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $202.89.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew Munn sold 4,637 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.31, for a total transaction of $1,044,762.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,579,799.50. The trade was a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $609,677.79. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at $1,817,180.32. This trade represents a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GRMN. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and boosted their price target for the company 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.