Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Takes $246,000 Position in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new position in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 2,624 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Autoliv by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,344 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Autoliv by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,501 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Autoliv by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 23,456 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,190,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Autoliv by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,820 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 74.4% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 314 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALV. HSBC downgraded Autoliv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $109.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Autoliv from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Pareto Securities cut shares of Autoliv to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America raised shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Autoliv from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.14.

Autoliv Stock Performance

Shares of Autoliv stock opened at $90.30 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $94.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Autoliv, Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.55 and a 52 week high of $129.38.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.21. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 28.62%. Sell-side analysts expect that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Autoliv’s payout ratio is presently 34.70%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.90, for a total value of $569,664.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 23,307 shares in the company, valued at $2,305,062.30. This represents a 19.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Fredrik Westin sold 1,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total transaction of $178,839.57. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,218.59. This represents a 19.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,253 shares of company stock valued at $915,534. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Autoliv Company Profile

Autoliv, Inc, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and supplies passive safety systems to the automotive industry in Europe, the Americas, China, Japan, and rest of Asia. It offers passive safety systems, including modules and components for frontal-impact airbag protection systems, side-impact airbag protection systems, seatbelts, steering wheels, and inflator technologies.