State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 3,153 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,285 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 3,153 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Lear were worth $3,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisor Partners II LLC boosted its holdings in Lear by 5.0% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 1,921 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Lear by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Lear by 4.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,152 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Lear by 4.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,975 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Lear by 4.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on LEA shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.44.

Lear Price Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $136.45 on Friday. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $117.79 and a 52 week high of $157.90. The firm has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.86. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. Lear’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.82%.

Insider Transactions at Lear

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

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.