Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 19,059 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 301,799 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 19,059 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Lear were worth $42,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,237,016 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $174,382,000 after purchasing an additional 149,958 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Lear during the 4th quarter worth about $1,356,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,316,000. Lakewood Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lear by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,995 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in shares of Lear by 36.7% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 273,942 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $36,763,000 after acquiring an additional 73,559 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lear has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.44.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other Lear 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA opened at $137.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $138.83 and a 200-day moving average of $135.84. Lear Co. has a one year low of $117.79 and a one year high of $157.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12 by ($0.09). Lear had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 2.44%. The firm had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.82%.

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.