Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Sold by Martingale Asset Management L P

Martingale Asset Management L P lessened its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 41.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,983 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 12,530 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in Lear were worth $1,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in Lear by 101.0% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 4,068 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 2,044 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 15.4% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 59,369 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $6,480,000 after purchasing an additional 7,910 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Lear by 4.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,526 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Lear in the 3rd quarter valued at $284,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 3,207 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LEA shares. Cowen cut shares of Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays cut Lear from an "equal weight" rating to a "negative" rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $102.00 to $83.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $114.27.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In related news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Lear Stock Performance

LEA traded up $1.63 on Thursday, reaching $79.14. The company had a trading volume of 122,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 741,819. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $91.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.34. Lear Co. has a 1 year low of $73.85 and a 1 year high of $138.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Lear's payout ratio is 34.45%.

Lear Profile

Lear Corporation designs, develops, engineers, manufactures, assembles, and supplies automotive seating, and electrical distribution systems and related components for automotive original equipment manufacturers in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Its Seating segment offers seat systems, seat subsystems, keyseat components, seat trim covers, seat mechanisms, seat foams, and headrests, as well as surface materials, such as leather and fabric for automobiles and light trucks, compact cars, pick-up trucks, and sport utility vehicles.