Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Position in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV - Free Report) by 56.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 122,759 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 44,276 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.16% of Autoliv worth $10,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,146,500 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $670,270,000 after acquiring an additional 641,895 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Autoliv during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,761,000. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in Autoliv by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,382,265 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $223,433,000 after purchasing an additional 351,876 shares during the period. 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. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Autoliv in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,749,000. 69.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Autoliv Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE ALV traded down $0.95 during trading on Monday, reaching $116.79. 200,763 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 809,961. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.97. Autoliv, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.49 and a 1 year high of $127.74. The stock has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $104.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.76.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The auto parts company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 30.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a positive change from Autoliv's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Autoliv's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.22%.

Autoliv announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 4th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the auto parts company to repurchase up to 31.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Autoliv in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Autoliv from $95.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Autoliv from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Autoliv from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $123.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Autoliv from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Autoliv has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $117.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jan Carlson sold 1,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.32, for a total transaction of $168,437.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 77,493 shares in the company, valued at $8,394,041.76. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.