Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Stock

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $100.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the auto parts company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential downside of 1.98% from the stock’s current price.

ALV has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Autoliv from $95.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their price target on Autoliv from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. BNP Paribas Exane raised Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $123.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. BNP Paribas raised Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.29.

Autoliv Price Performance

ALV opened at $102.03 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $89.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Autoliv has a 52-week low of $75.49 and a 52-week high of $129.38. The company has a market cap of $7.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The auto parts company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.43. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 28.62%. The company had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Autoliv will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Fredrik Westin sold 1,803 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total transaction of $178,839.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,218.59. This represents a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.90, for a total value of $569,664.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 23,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,305,062.30. This trade represents a 19.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,253 shares of company stock valued at $915,534 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autoliv

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALV. Barclays PLC raised its position in Autoliv by 41.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,216 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,821,000 after purchasing an additional 8,859 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Autoliv by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,171 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Autoliv by 139.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 273 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in shares of Autoliv by 130.4% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 6,221 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Autoliv by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,315 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

About Autoliv

Autoliv, Inc, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and supplies passive safety systems to the automotive industry in Europe, the Americas, China, Japan, and rest of Asia. It offers passive safety systems, including modules and components for frontal-impact airbag protection systems, side-impact airbag protection systems, seatbelts, steering wheels, and inflator technologies.