Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Sells 114,295 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 88.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,049 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 114,295 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC's holdings in Lear were worth $2,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 236.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 577,690 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $77,526,000 after purchasing an additional 405,875 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Lear by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 981,669 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $138,595,000 after purchasing an additional 391,949 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Lear by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,896,871 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $254,560,000 after purchasing an additional 287,483 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 643.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 243,007 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $32,612,000 after purchasing an additional 210,333 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Lear by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,087,058 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $146,057,000 after purchasing an additional 182,241 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LEA shares. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lowered their price objective on Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lear from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $161.44.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lear Price Performance

LEA stock traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $130.68. 455,495 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 731,305. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.55. Lear Co. has a 52-week low of $121.38 and a 52-week high of $157.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $136.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.78 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. Lear's payout ratio is 33.59%.

About Lear

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.

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