Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 560.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 203,713 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 172,883 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.11% of Garmin worth $35,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GRMN. Haverford Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin during the third quarter worth about $229,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Garmin by 4.2% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,673 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,407,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Garmin by 1.8% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 16,405 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,888,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Garmin by 0.7% during the third quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,715 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Garmin by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 56,375 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $9,924,000 after purchasing an additional 7,236 shares during the last quarter. 73.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Garmin Price Performance

GRMN opened at $211.32 on Friday. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $118.51 and a 12 month high of $215.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.60.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.53. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 25.48%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Garmin’s quarterly revenue was up 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.16, for a total value of $1,781,343.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 40,965 shares in the company, valued at $7,257,359.40. This trade represents a 19.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sean Biddlecombe sold 587 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.10, for a total transaction of $123,328.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,147 shares in the company, valued at $1,291,484.70. This represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,479 shares of company stock valued at $2,419,502. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GRMN shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Garmin from $133.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Garmin from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Garmin from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Garmin has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.67.

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.