Level Four Advisory Services LLC Cuts Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 22.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,637 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 14,394 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Lear worth $4,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $614,782,000 after buying an additional 447,835 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $174,461,000 after purchasing an additional 22,601 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 4.0% during 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 last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Lear by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 715,788 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $78,128,000 after purchasing an additional 46,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Lear by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 676,977 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $64,110,000 after purchasing an additional 99,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

LEA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. TD Cowen downgraded Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In related news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lear Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of LEA stock traded up $2.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $89.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 236,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 727,915. The company has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 10.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $95.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.04. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $85.29 and a 52 week high of $145.05.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Lear's payout ratio is currently 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.