Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $42.62 Million Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 301,799 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 19,059 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.52% of Lear worth $42,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LEA. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Lear by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Lear by 0.5% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 24,375 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 336.6% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 63,448 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $8,515,000 after buying an additional 48,915 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,975 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Lear by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,700 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $5,328,000 after buying an additional 5,379 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total value of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,483.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,483.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Lear Price Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $137.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $138.83 and a 200-day moving average of $135.84. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $117.79 and a 52 week high of $157.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12 by ($0.09). Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The firm had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.81 earnings per share. Lear’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is 31.82%.

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.