Schroder Investment Management Group Makes New Investment in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 40,099 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,728,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Autoliv by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,344 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position 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 during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Autoliv by 0.6% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 23,456 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,190,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Autoliv by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,820 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. 69.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Autoliv from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Pareto Securities lowered Autoliv to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America upgraded Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Cowen started coverage on shares of Autoliv in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Autoliv currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.14.

Autoliv Stock Performance

Shares of Autoliv stock opened at $80.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $94.16 and its 200-day moving average is $95.30. Autoliv, Inc. has a one year low of $78.00 and a one year high of $129.38.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.21. Autoliv had a return on equity of 28.62% and a net margin of 6.21%. Equities analysts predict that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Autoliv’s payout ratio is 34.70%.

Insider Activity at Autoliv

In related news, CFO Fredrik Westin sold 1,803 shares of Autoliv stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total value of $178,839.57. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $720,218.59. The trade was a 19.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Magnus Jarlegren sold 1,289 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total value of $127,391.87. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $607,013.86. This trade represents a 17.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,253 shares of company stock valued at $915,534. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Autoliv 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.