Short Interest in Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) Declines By 14.1%

Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,680,000 shares, a decline of 14.1% from the February 28th total of 10,100,000 shares. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on APTV. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Aptiv from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Aptiv from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Aptiv in a report on Thursday, December 5th. HSBC raised Aptiv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Aptiv from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aptiv presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.61.

Insider Transactions at Aptiv

In other Aptiv news, SVP Benjamin Lyon sold 14,568 shares of Aptiv stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.50, for a total transaction of $954,204.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 125,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,203,023.50. The trade was a 10.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APTV. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Aptiv by 164.7% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,363 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of Aptiv during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,428,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aptiv in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,891,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Aptiv by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 98,241 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,942,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Formidable Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Aptiv during the fourth quarter worth approximately $460,000. Institutional investors own 94.21% of the company’s stock.

Aptiv Stock Up 0.6 %

APTV traded up $0.38 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.53. 375,863 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,408,699. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Aptiv has a fifty-two week low of $51.47 and a fifty-two week high of $85.56. The stock has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.78.

Aptiv (NYSE:APTV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.12. Aptiv had a return on equity of 15.63% and a net margin of 9.07%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aptiv will post 7.2 EPS for the current year.

Aptiv Company Profile

Aptiv PLC engages in design, manufacture, and sale of vehicle components in North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, South America, and internationally. The company provides electrical, electronic, and safety technology solutions to the automotive and commercial vehicle markets. It operates through two segments, Signal and Power Solutions, and Advanced Safety and User Experience.