US Bancorp DE Cuts Position in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

US Bancorp DE trimmed its position in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,512 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 308 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Autoliv were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALV. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Autoliv by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 9,655 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $906,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Autoliv by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 65,628 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $6,155,000 after buying an additional 15,877 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Autoliv by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 31,782 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,981,000 after buying an additional 5,806 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Autoliv during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,815,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Autoliv by 79.6% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,091,000 after buying an additional 24,066 shares during the period. 69.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Autoliv Price Performance

ALV stock opened at $118.83 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.39. Autoliv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.49 and a twelve month high of $118.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

Autoliv announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto parts company to repurchase up to 31.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is an increase from Autoliv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In other news, Director Jan Carlson sold 1,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.32, for a total value of $168,437.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 77,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,394,041.76. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ALV shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Autoliv in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Autoliv from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Autoliv from $95.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of Autoliv in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.64.

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.