Garmin Ltd. $GRMN Stock Holdings Lifted by Saudi Central Bank

Saudi Central Bank grew its position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 89.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,453 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,419 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Garmin were worth $2,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Garmin by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,250,844 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,785,304,000 after acquiring an additional 126,677 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Garmin during the 4th quarter worth $395,234,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Garmin by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,719,677 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $348,836,000 after acquiring an additional 63,283 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Garmin by 2.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,631,843 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $378,540,000 after acquiring an additional 40,474 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its position in shares of Garmin by 0.4% in the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 1,419,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $296,250,000 after purchasing an additional 5,213 shares during the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on GRMN shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Garmin from $249.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research raised Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Garmin in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Garmin in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Garmin presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.17.

Insider Activity at Garmin

In related news, CEO Clifton Pemble sold 4,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $1,208,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 120,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,038,100. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sean Biddlecombe sold 986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.88, for a total value of $288,779.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,763,430.48. This trade represents a 14.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,108 shares of company stock worth $4,808,799. Company insiders own 14.80% of the company’s stock.

Garmin Stock Performance

Shares of Garmin stock opened at $276.90 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.44. The firm has a market cap of $53.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.85. Garmin Ltd. has a twelve month low of $186.67 and a twelve month high of $314.28.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 24.47% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Company Profile

Garmin Ltd. is a technology company best known for designing and manufacturing navigation, communication and information devices that leverage global positioning system (GPS) technology. The company serves a diverse set of markets including consumer fitness and wearables, automotive navigation, aviation avionics, marine electronics and outdoor handheld devices. Garmin’s products combine hardware, mapping and software services to deliver location-aware solutions for personal, recreational and professional uses.

Garmin’s product lineup includes wearable fitness and multisport watches (Forerunner, Fenix, Venu), cycling computers and accessories (Edge, Varia), handheld and handheld-mounted GPS devices for outdoor activities, automotive and portable navigation units, marine chartplotters and fishfinders, and certified avionics for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.