Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,960,000 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the July 15th total of 7,450,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity at Aptiv

In related news, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 394 shares of Aptiv stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total transaction of $30,330.12. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,636 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,699.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aptiv

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Aptiv in the 1st quarter valued at about $343,760,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. acquired a new position in Aptiv in the 1st quarter valued at about $335,426,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Aptiv in the 4th quarter valued at about $302,902,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Aptiv by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 12,861,135 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $905,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,764,844 shares during the period. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC acquired a new position in Aptiv in the 1st quarter valued at about $85,880,000. 94.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on APTV shares. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Aptiv from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays cut their target price on Aptiv from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com cut Aptiv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Aptiv in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Aptiv from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.64.

Aptiv Stock Up 3.0 %

NYSE APTV traded up $2.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $71.00. 2,694,956 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,957,574. The stock has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.80. Aptiv has a 1 year low of $65.13 and a 1 year high of $104.72.

Aptiv (NYSE:APTV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The auto parts company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.16. Aptiv had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 18.46%. The business had revenue of $5.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aptiv will post 6.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Aptiv

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.