Legal & General Group Plc Sells 13,679 Shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV - Free Report) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 140,871 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 13,679 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.18% of Autoliv worth $13,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Autoliv by 139.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 273 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in Autoliv by 74.4% during 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 last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Autoliv during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Autoliv in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted 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 valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. 69.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ALV shares. Cowen initiated coverage on Autoliv in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Barclays raised shares of Autoliv from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Autoliv from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $109.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Daiwa America upgraded Autoliv from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Autoliv from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.64.

Autoliv Stock Performance

Shares of ALV traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $85.15. The stock had a trading volume of 74,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 817,923. 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 firm has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a PE ratio of 10.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.47. Autoliv, Inc. has a one year low of $75.49 and a one year high of $129.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.34.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The auto parts company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.43. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 28.62%. The firm had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Autoliv's payout ratio is presently 32.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In other news, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of Autoliv stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.90, for a total transaction of $569,664.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 23,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,305,062.30. The trade was a 19.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Fredrik Westin sold 1,803 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total value of $178,839.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,218.59. The trade was a 19.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,253 shares of company stock valued at $915,534. 0.20% of the stock is currently 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.