FNY Investment Advisers LLC Takes $44,000 Position in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 500 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALV. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Autoliv by 74.4% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 314 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in Autoliv during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Autoliv during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Autoliv by 188.6% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 788 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. 69.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on ALV shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Autoliv from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Autoliv from $95.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Autoliv from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $123.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.00.

Insider Activity at Autoliv

In related news, Director Jan Carlson sold 1,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 77,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Autoliv Price Performance

NYSE ALV opened at $110.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $97.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.30. Autoliv, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.49 and a 52-week high of $112.27. The company has a market cap of $8.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.36.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The auto parts company reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.43. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 30.47%. The company had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The company 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 boost 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 yield of 3.09%. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.22%.

Autoliv announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto parts company to reacquire up to 31.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.