Garmin Institutional Activity Shifts Following Strong Earnings Beat

Institutional investors have recently adjusted their stakes in Garmin Ltd. following the company's third-quarter financial report. In recent regulatory filings, Bahl & Gaynor LLC trimmed its holding by 16.4%, offloading 107,348 shares to retain 547,566 shares valued at $157,064,000. Alps Advisors Inc. also reduced its investment by 26.3% by selling 3,604 shares, leaving it with 10,091 shares worth $2,895,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its position by 1.7%, parting with 7,845 shares while maintaining 460,788 shares valued at $132,172,000.

Other investment managers expanded their positions in the scientific and technical instruments firm. M&G PLC increased its stake by 11.5% during the third quarter, acquiring 38,467 shares to bring its total ownership to 372,500 shares worth $106,908,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC significantly increased its holding by 4,590.3%, purchasing 6,610 shares to conclude the period with 6,754 shares valued at $1,937,000. Overall, institutional investors and hedge funds control 81.60% of Garmin shares.

The institutional portfolio adjustments follow Garmin's quarterly earnings announcement released on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported earnings of $2.76 per share, surpassing the analyst consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.38 and rising from $1.99 per share reported in the same period last year. Quarterly revenue reached $1.99 billion, matching analyst forecasts and growing 12.2% year over year. Garmin also achieved a net margin of 25.58% and a return on equity of 21.94%. Analysts expect the company to generate 10.77 earnings per share for the full fiscal year.

Wall Street research firms maintain a consensus Hold rating on Garmin, with an average target price of $315.29, according to MarketBeat data. Across brokerages, one analyst has rated the stock as a Strong Buy, three as Buy, five as Hold, and one as Sell. Following the earnings report on Thursday, October 29th, Barclays lowered its price objective from $297.00 to $277.00 with an equal weight rating, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its target from $295.00 to $310.00 with a neutral rating. On Monday, November 2nd, Bank of America reaffirmed an underperform rating on the stock.