Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Purchases 284,002 Shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) by 67.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 701,994 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 284,002 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Autoliv were worth $65,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ALV. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Autoliv in the fourth quarter worth about $36,761,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Autoliv by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 910,437 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $85,008,000 after purchasing an additional 159,067 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Autoliv by 94.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 210,989 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $19,700,000 after purchasing an additional 102,362 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Autoliv by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 987,375 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $92,221,000 after buying an additional 95,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lancaster Investment Management grew its holdings in Autoliv by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Lancaster Investment Management now owns 568,821 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,350,000 after buying an additional 85,732 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Autoliv news, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.90, for a total value of $569,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 23,307 shares in the company, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Magnus Jarlegren sold 1,289 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total transaction of $127,391.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $607,013.86. The trade was a 17.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,253 shares of company stock valued at $915,534. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Autoliv Trading Down 4.7 %

ALV opened at $80.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.59. Autoliv, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.00 and a 12 month high of $129.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.30.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last announced 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 net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 28.62%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Pareto Securities lowered shares of Autoliv to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. HSBC downgraded 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 report on Tuesday, February 4th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Autoliv from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Autoliv from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Cowen began coverage on Autoliv in a report on Thursday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.14.

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.