Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) Short Interest Update

Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,740,000 shares, an increase of 9.4% from the March 31st total of 1,590,000 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 541,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mikael Hagstrom sold 327 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.69, for a total value of $35,868.63. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 327 shares in the company, valued at $35,868.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Mikael Hagstrom sold 327 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was 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 owns 327 shares in the company, valued at $35,868.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Colin Naughton sold 782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.68, for a total value of $86,551.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,143.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,388 shares of company stock worth $921,757 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Autoliv

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALV. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Autoliv during the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,065,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Autoliv by 169.8% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 759,239 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $83,661,000 after buying an additional 477,800 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Autoliv by 9.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,264,937 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $507,961,000 after acquiring an additional 459,147 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Autoliv by 183.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 487,586 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $47,042,000 after acquiring an additional 315,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Autoliv by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 958,304 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $105,596,000 after acquiring an additional 278,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ALV. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Autoliv from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Autoliv from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays increased their price target on Autoliv from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Autoliv from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.90.

Autoliv Stock Performance

Shares of ALV opened at $120.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.72. Autoliv has a 12 month low of $79.66 and a 12 month high of $125.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Autoliv Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio is 42.43%.

About Autoliv

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.