Signaturefd LLC Purchases 263 Shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) by 63.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 678 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 263 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Autoliv were worth $60,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALV. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 122.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 370 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Autoliv during the 1st quarter valued at about $637,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 84,358 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $7,461,000 after purchasing an additional 8,953 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 75,591 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 5,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Autoliv in the fourth quarter worth $3,815,000. 69.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In related news, Director Jan Carlson sold 1,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.32, for a total transaction of $168,437.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 77,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,041.76. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALV has been the subject of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $123.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Autoliv from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Autoliv in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Autoliv from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Autoliv from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.64.

Autoliv Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of ALV stock opened at $113.98 on Wednesday. Autoliv, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.49 and a 1 year high of $118.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $109.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.37.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The auto parts company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Autoliv announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 4th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the auto parts company to reacquire up to 31.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a positive change from Autoliv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.63%.

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.