Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Stake Cut by High Note Wealth LLC

High Note Wealth LLC cut its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,525 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 713 shares during the period. High Note Wealth LLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $2,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Lear by 2.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,792,397 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,226,452,000 after purchasing an additional 227,230 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lear by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,912,006 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $793,391,000 after purchasing an additional 45,567 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Lear by 47.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,064,807 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $437,259,000 after purchasing an additional 993,216 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Lear by 0.5% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,463,244 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $351,234,000 after purchasing an additional 12,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Lear by 17.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,896,871 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $254,560,000 after buying an additional 287,483 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 2,977 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total value of $402,669.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,533.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,379 shares of company stock worth $2,205,121. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lear Price Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $144.85 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $137.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.49. The firm has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.53. Lear Co. has a 52-week low of $117.79 and a 52-week high of $157.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 2.44%. Lear’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Lear from $195.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Benchmark raised their price target on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.89.

Lear Profile

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.