Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Raises Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 38.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,540 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Lear were worth $658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lear during the fourth quarter worth about $79,611,000. Grimes & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,847,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its stake in shares of Lear by 56.2% in the 4th quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 20,129 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 7,242 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of Lear by 307.9% in the 1st quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 12,869 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 9,714 shares during the period. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in shares of Lear by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 107,582 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $15,192,000 after acquiring an additional 49,070 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total transaction of $296,273.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $159,174.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lear Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of LEA stock traded up $0.94 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $122.04. 640,067 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 656,932. The firm has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.47. Lear Co. has a 1 year low of $112.26 and a 1 year high of $157.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $119.24 and a 200 day moving average of $129.85.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.26. Lear had a net margin of 2.30% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 13.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LEA shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.20.

Lear Company 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.