Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 27,491 Shares of Adient plc (NYSE:ADNT)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Adient plc (NYSE:ADNT) by 85.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,694 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 27,491 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Adient were worth $1,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Adient by 583.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Adient by 493.8% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Adient by 51.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Adient by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Adient in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $227,000. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ADNT. StockNews.com raised Adient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Bank of America cut Adient from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $24.00 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Adient from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Adient from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Adient in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.50.

Adient Stock Performance

ADNT opened at $17.44 on Friday. Adient plc has a 1-year low of $16.43 and a 1-year high of $37.04. The company has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.83, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 2.15. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Adient (NYSE:ADNT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. Adient had a net margin of 0.12% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Adient plc will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Adient

In other news, EVP James Conklin sold 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total value of $232,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,537.25. This represents a 18.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

About Adient

Adient plc engages in the design, development, manufacture, and market of seating systems and components for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and light trucks. The company's automotive seating solutions include complete seating systems, frames, mechanisms, foams, head restraints, armrests, and trim covers.