Level Four Advisory Services LLC Sells 14,394 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 48,637 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 14,394 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $4,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lear by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 467,863 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $51,067,000 after buying an additional 12,379 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Lear by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 20,948 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after acquiring an additional 5,967 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Lear in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Lear by 405.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 51,356 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,606,000 after purchasing an additional 41,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Lear by 23.6% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,701 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 2,423 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Cowen downgraded Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lear presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache bought 2,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE LEA opened at $87.82 on Friday. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $86.28 and a 12-month high of $145.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $95.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.36. The company has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. Analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is 34.45%.

About Lear

Lear Corporation designs, develops, engineers, manufactures, assembles, and supplies automotive seating, and electrical distribution systems and related components for automotive original equipment manufacturers in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Its Seating segment offers seat systems, seat subsystems, keyseat components, seat trim covers, seat mechanisms, seat foams, and headrests, as well as surface materials, such as leather and fabric for automobiles and light trucks, compact cars, pick-up trucks, and sport utility vehicles.