Highland Capital Management LLC Invests $512,000 in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Highland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,650 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 84.1% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 267 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Autoliv during the third quarter worth about $46,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of Autoliv in the first quarter worth about $49,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main bought a new position in Autoliv during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Autoliv by 269.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 872 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. 69.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ALV shares. StockNews.com upgraded Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Autoliv from $101.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Mizuho upped their target price on Autoliv from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Autoliv from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.00.

Autoliv Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ALV opened at $122.09 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.71. Autoliv, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.66 and a 52-week high of $124.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. Autoliv had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 27.13%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.75 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 12th were given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In other news, insider Colin Naughton sold 782 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.68, for a total value of $86,551.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,594 shares in the company, valued at $619,143.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Colin Naughton sold 782 shares of Autoliv stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.68, for a total transaction of $86,551.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,594 shares in the company, valued at $619,143.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Mikael Hagstrom sold 327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.69, for a total value of $35,868.63. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,868.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,388 shares of company stock valued at $921,757 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Autoliv 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.