Marshall Wace LLP Makes New Investment in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 165,902 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $15,711,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.31% of Lear at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Lear by 7.4% in 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 buying an additional 447,835 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Lear by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,212,579 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $209,531,000 after acquiring an additional 498,918 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Lear by 1.2% during the fourth 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. Lyrical Asset Management LP boosted its position in Lear by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,056,694 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $100,069,000 after purchasing an additional 29,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new position in Lear in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,700,000. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $102.00 to $83.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down previously from $117.00) on shares of Lear in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen cut Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Lear has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $113.91.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,940.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA traded up $3.36 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $85.36. 611,033 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 746,635. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $89.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.70. The company has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.34. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $73.85 and a twelve month 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 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, sell-side analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. 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 payout ratio is 34.45%.

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.