BankPlus Trust Department Invests $1.55 Million in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,517 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Garmin by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,863 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp raised its position in Garmin by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 3,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $802,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Garmin by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,821 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Garmin by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Garmin by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 804 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Garmin from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays increased their target price on Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $206.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 1,761 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.99, for a total transaction of $366,270.39. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,743,019.88. This trade represents a 6.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 19.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Garmin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GRMN opened at $224.67 on Monday. Garmin Ltd. has a one year low of $131.20 and a one year high of $246.50. The firm has a market cap of $43.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $213.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.73.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.04%.

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.