Prudential PLC Cuts Holdings in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Prudential PLC reduced its position in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) by 29.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,805 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 13,825 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Autoliv were worth $3,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALV. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Autoliv by 67.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 701,994 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $65,840,000 after purchasing an additional 284,002 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in Autoliv by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 94,464 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $8,860,000 after acquiring an additional 2,441 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Autoliv by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 995,121 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $93,368,000 after acquiring an additional 7,746 shares during the period. OLD Mission Capital LLC raised its position in Autoliv by 92.7% during the fourth quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC now owns 63,264 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,934,000 after acquiring an additional 30,431 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Autoliv by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,023,937 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $96,035,000 after purchasing an additional 113,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Autoliv Trading Down 4.7 %

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

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last announced its quarterly 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALV. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Autoliv from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Autoliv from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America raised Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen started coverage on Autoliv in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $116.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Pareto Securities cut shares of Autoliv to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In related news, CFO Fredrik Westin sold 1,803 shares of Autoliv stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total value of $178,839.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,218.59. This trade represents a 19.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 23,307 shares in the company, valued at $2,305,062.30. This trade represents a 19.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,253 shares of company stock worth $915,534 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.