Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Grows Stake in Garmin Ltd. $GRMN

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 35,320 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,230 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Garmin were worth $8,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Garmin in the second quarter valued at $410,304,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Garmin by 649.2% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,256,668 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $309,417,000 after buying an additional 1,088,938 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Garmin by 138.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,158,702 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $247,255,000 after buying an additional 671,859 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Garmin by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,197,564 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,973,044,000 after acquiring an additional 499,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Garmin by 530.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 351,690 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $86,593,000 after acquiring an additional 295,914 shares during the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Garmin Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:GRMN opened at $232.51 on Friday. Garmin Ltd. has a 12-month low of $169.26 and a 12-month high of $261.69. The firm has a market cap of $44.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average is $223.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.88.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Garmin had a net margin of 22.96% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.41 earnings per share. Garmin has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.350-9.350 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 12th will be paid a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 12th. Garmin’s payout ratio is presently 41.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Garmin news, EVP Matthew Munn sold 5,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.97, for a total value of $1,323,866.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,478,579.72. The trade was a 34.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,694 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.65, for a total value of $1,684,545.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 58,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,731,591. This represents a 10.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 44,403 shares of company stock worth $10,987,074 in the last three months. 15.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GRMN shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Garmin in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Longbow Research upgraded shares of Garmin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Garmin in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Zacks Research upgraded Garmin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Garmin from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Garmin presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.00.

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.