AQR Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in Autoliv, Inc. $ALV

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Autoliv, Inc. by 46.7%, holding 165,626 shares after selling 145,154 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed projections for Autoliv with Barclays raising its price target to $135.00 while Robert W. Baird set it lower at $124.00, reflecting a general outlook of a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $122.92.
• Autoliv recently reported earnings of $2.21 EPS, exceeding estimates, and announced a significant $2.50 billion stock repurchase plan indicating confidence in its valuation.

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV - Free Report) by 46.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 165,626 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 145,154 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Autoliv worth $14,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 122.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 370 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Autoliv during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,029,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Autoliv during the 1st quarter worth approximately $637,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of Autoliv by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 84,358 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $7,461,000 after acquiring an additional 8,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Autoliv by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 75,591 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 5,137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.57% of the company's stock.

Autoliv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALV traded down $1.54 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $126.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 369,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 515,025. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $118.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $9.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.35. Autoliv, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.49 and a 12-month high of $127.89.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The auto parts company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.14. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto parts company to purchase up to 31.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on ALV shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Autoliv from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Autoliv from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Autoliv from $106.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Autoliv in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Autoliv from $95.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $122.92.

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.