Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Increases Holdings in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 109.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,372 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,288 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Garmin were worth $651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 169.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 47.8% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 26,769 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,816,000 after acquiring an additional 8,654 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 49,082 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,163,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Garmin by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 16,727 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,760,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GRMN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Garmin from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $175.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Garmin in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barrington Research boosted their price target on Garmin from $119.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Garmin from $139.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.33.

Garmin Trading Down 0.5 %

GRMN stock traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $144.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,185,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 936,313. The company has a market cap of $27.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.98. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $95.79 and a 12 month high of $149.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $143.40 and its 200-day moving average is $128.37.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 24.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. Analysts expect that Garmin Ltd. will post 5.45 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. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.52%.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total transaction of $349,710.66. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $969,781.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,587 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.18, for a total transaction of $349,710.66. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $969,781.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 1,622 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.19, for a total value of $217,656.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,319 shares in the company, valued at $21,379,016.61. 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 corporate insiders.

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.