Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA – Get Rating) by 49.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 650,894 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 215,471 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE's holdings in Lear were worth $92,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 81.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 239 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the first quarter worth about $55,000. 99.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $123.26 on Friday. Lear Co. has a fifty-two week low of $118.38 and a fifty-two week high of $195.43. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.20. The company has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.33.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 31st. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 163.83%.

Insider Activity at Lear

In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 6,143 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.83, for a total transaction of $785,259.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 47,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,129,959.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $3,375,947 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen increased their target price on shares of Lear to $196.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Lear from $153.00 to $157.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 3rd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Lear from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 9th. Exane BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Lear from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, July 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Lear from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, July 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $168.79.

Lear Company Profile

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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.

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