Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trims Stock Position in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its stake in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) by 21.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,538 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 15,524 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.07% of Autoliv worth $5,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALV. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in Autoliv in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its position in shares of Autoliv by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 1,378,636 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $133,259,000 after purchasing an additional 59,592 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Autoliv during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,095,000. Lancaster Investment Management increased its position in Autoliv by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Lancaster Investment Management now owns 568,821 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $53,350,000 after buying an additional 85,732 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Autoliv by 74.4% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 314 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. 69.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ALV shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Autoliv from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. HSBC lowered shares of Autoliv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $109.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Cowen initiated coverage on Autoliv in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Autoliv in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $116.00 target price on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.14.

Autoliv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALV opened at $92.42 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.69. Autoliv, Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.55 and a 12 month high of $129.38.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.21. Autoliv had a return on equity of 28.62% and a net margin of 6.21%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Autoliv news, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.90, for a total transaction of $569,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 23,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,305,062.30. This trade represents a 19.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Magnus Jarlegren sold 1,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total value of $127,391.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,142 shares in the company, valued at $607,013.86. This represents a 17.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,253 shares of company stock worth $915,534. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

About Autoliv

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.