Ellsworth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,226 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Autoliv were worth $1,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ALV. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in Autoliv by 90.3% during the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 8,151 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP increased its position in Autoliv by 43.5% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,250 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $796,000 after acquiring an additional 2,501 shares during the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. increased its position in Autoliv by 2.8% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 231,211 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $22,307,000 after acquiring an additional 6,394 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in Autoliv by 58.9% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 102,351 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $8,704,000 after acquiring an additional 37,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Autoliv by 158.4% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,525 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $630,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Autoliv from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 20th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Autoliv from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Autoliv from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Autoliv news, VP Mikael Hagstrom sold 327 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.69, for a total transaction of $35,868.63. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,868.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Autoliv news, insider Colin Naughton sold 782 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.68, for a total transaction of $86,551.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $619,143.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Mikael Hagstrom sold 327 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.69, for a total transaction of $35,868.63. Following 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 have sold a total of 8,388 shares of company stock worth $921,757 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Autoliv Stock Down 1.4 %

Autoliv stock traded down $1.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $120.43. 489,880 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 517,551. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.66 and a 12 month high of $124.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $113.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.73. The company has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.71.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.37. Autoliv had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 27.13%. The company had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. Autoliv’s payout ratio is 47.30%.

Autoliv Company 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.