Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Purchases New Shares in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp acquired a new position in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,039 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Garmin during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in Garmin during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Garmin by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Garmin

In related news, CEO Clifton A. Pemble sold 7,202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.14, for a total value of $1,635,862.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,525 shares in the company, valued at $33,963,108.50. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,817,180.32. This represents a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094 over the last three months. Insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GRMN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded Garmin to a “sell” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Garmin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.80.

Garmin Price Performance

NYSE GRMN opened at $193.10 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $37.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $212.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.97. Garmin Ltd. has a 1-year low of $138.86 and a 1-year high of $246.50.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.51. Garmin had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 22.42%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. Garmin’s revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Garmin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

About Garmin

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.