Norges Bank Invests $396.18 Million in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,920,797 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,184,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GRMN. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Garmin by 578.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in Garmin in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Garmin in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.60% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of GRMN opened at $213.59 on Friday. Garmin Ltd. has a 52 week low of $138.86 and a 52 week high of $246.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $217.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $202.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. Garmin’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Garmin news, VP Susan Lyman sold 2,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $609,677.79. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total value of $625,957.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,936 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,550.80. This trade represents a 8.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock valued at $5,486,094. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

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.