Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $247.57 Million Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,614,227 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 283,838 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 4.81% of Lear worth $247,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in Lear by 49.9% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 3,207 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 1,068 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $14,742,000 after purchasing an additional 12,094 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 10.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 18.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 196,829 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $21,015,000 after purchasing an additional 30,529 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache bought 2,178 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,940.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on LEA. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Cowen lowered Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $113.91.

Lear Stock Performance

LEA stock traded up $3.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $85.36. 611,033 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 746,635. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.55. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $73.85 and a 52 week high of $138.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share 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 analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Lear's dividend 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.