Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $209.53 Million Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 29.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,212,579 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 498,918 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 4.07% of Lear worth $209,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LEA. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Lear by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,216 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. RWC Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 410,908 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $38,913,000 after buying an additional 77,691 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lear during the fourth quarter valued at $3,871,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Lear by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $14,742,000 after acquiring an additional 12,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Lear by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 39,465 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $3,759,000 after acquiring an additional 5,711 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In related news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LEA. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.36.

Lear Stock Performance

LEA stock traded up $7.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $82.70. 931,378 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 740,900. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $73.85 and a twelve month high of $141.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.69.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. 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.