Swiss National Bank Sells 4,700 Shares of Autoliv, Inc. $ALV

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Autoliv, Inc. by 3.1%, holding approximately 145,000 shares valued at $12.83 million as of the latest filing.
• Autoliv has announced a $2.50 billion share buyback plan, allowing the company to reacquire up to 31.3% of its stock, reflecting confidence in the stock's value.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.85 per share, representing a 2.9% yield, which is an increase from the previous dividend of $0.70.

Swiss National Bank reduced its position in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV - Free Report) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,000 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 4,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.19% of Autoliv worth $12,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALV. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Autoliv by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 9,655 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $906,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Autoliv by 31.9% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 65,628 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $6,155,000 after purchasing an additional 15,877 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Autoliv in the 4th quarter worth about $3,815,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Autoliv by 79.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,282 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $5,091,000 after purchasing an additional 24,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Autoliv by 327.5% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 155,236 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $14,560,000 after purchasing an additional 118,925 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ALV shares. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $135.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Autoliv in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Autoliv from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Autoliv from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Autoliv in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $133.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Autoliv from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $120.64.

Autoliv Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE ALV traded up $0.6290 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $119.5490. 97,486 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 808,844. Autoliv, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.49 and a fifty-two week high of $120.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $113.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.87.

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

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Autoliv's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Autoliv's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.20%.

Autoliv announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto parts company to repurchase up to 31.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jan Carlson sold 1,555 shares of Autoliv stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.32, for a total transaction of $168,437.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 77,493 shares in the company, valued at $8,394,041.76. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.