Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 3,299 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 87,877 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 3,299 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.16% of Lear worth $8,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,491,895 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $614,782,000 after purchasing an additional 447,835 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Lear by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,842,247 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $174,461,000 after acquiring an additional 22,601 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,141,476 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $124,621,000 after purchasing an additional 44,128 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Lear during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,700,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Lear by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 676,977 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $64,110,000 after purchasing an additional 99,072 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Lear from $115.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Cowen downgraded Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Lear presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $114.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rod Lache bought 2,178 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE:LEA traded down $1.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $76.72. The company had a trading volume of 356,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 762,501. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.58, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $91.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.79. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $73.85 and a 52 week high of $138.69.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. On average, analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Lear's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.45%.

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.