Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Sells 34,547 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. decreased its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 54.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,901 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 34,547 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.'s holdings in Lear were worth $4,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Lear by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Lear in the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Lear by 131.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 443 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Lear by 21.0% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 622 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Lear by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 873 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEA has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lear from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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 Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Lear Trading Down 0.5 %

LEA traded down $0.68 on Tuesday, reaching $128.20. 412,461 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 565,379. Lear Co. has a one year low of $121.38 and a one year high of $157.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.58. The company has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. Lear's payout ratio is currently 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.