Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) Short Interest Update

Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,590,000 shares, a drop of 8.6% from the March 15th total of 1,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 536,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In other news, VP Mikael Hagstrom sold 327 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.69, for a total value of $35,868.63. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,868.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Autoliv news, VP Mikael Hagstrom sold 327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.69, for a total transaction of $35,868.63. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 327 shares in the company, valued at $35,868.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 4,226 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.72, for a total value of $463,676.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,547 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,256.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,388 shares of company stock valued at $921,757. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Autoliv by 188.9% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,468,058 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $510,498,000 after acquiring an additional 3,575,146 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 185.3% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,455,700 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $135,904,000 after buying an additional 945,517 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Autoliv in the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,916,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Autoliv by 292.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,146,435 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $87,794,000 after acquiring an additional 854,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Autoliv by 169.8% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 759,239 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $83,661,000 after purchasing an additional 477,800 shares during the period. 69.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Autoliv Stock Performance

NYSE:ALV traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $115.69. The company had a trading volume of 469,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 529,429. The firm has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $116.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.85. Autoliv has a 52 week low of $79.66 and a 52 week high of $124.38.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.37. Autoliv had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 27.13%. The business had revenue of $2.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Autoliv will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were issued a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Autoliv’s payout ratio is 47.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Autoliv from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Autoliv from $101.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Autoliv from $107.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.18.

Autoliv Company Profile

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.