Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 1,007 Shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) by 31.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,245 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 1,007 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Autoliv were worth $220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Autoliv by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,344 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,501 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 3.5% in 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. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 74.4% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 314 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Autoliv by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,171 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. 69.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ALV. Cowen started coverage on Autoliv in a report on Thursday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Pareto Securities lowered Autoliv to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Autoliv in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $116.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Autoliv from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.93.

Autoliv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALV opened at $79.60 on Friday. Autoliv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.49 and a twelve month high of $129.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 9.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $91.84 and its 200 day moving average is $94.69.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $3.05 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. Autoliv’s payout ratio is 34.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.90, for a total transaction of $569,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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. The trade was a 17.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,253 shares of company stock worth $915,534. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Autoliv

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.