Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) Stake Raised by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,215,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 441,882 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 3.66% of Allegion worth $407,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Allegion by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,554 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Allegion by 19.5% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 638 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Allegion by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 982 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Allegion by 5.4% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,200 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 765 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ALLE shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Allegion from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Allegion from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $139.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho lowered shares of Allegion from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $141.00 in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Allegion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Allegion from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Robert C. Martens sold 5,391 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total transaction of $716,140.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,003,606.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Allegion news, SVP Robert C. Martens sold 5,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total value of $716,140.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,003,606.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Timothy P. Eckersley sold 5,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.99, for a total transaction of $656,059.53. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 35,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,623,354.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Allegion Price Performance

Shares of Allegion stock traded up $0.96 during trading on Monday, hitting $124.81. 705,574 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 718,888. Allegion plc has a twelve month low of $95.94 and a twelve month high of $136.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $130.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.85.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.10. Allegion had a return on equity of 48.58% and a net margin of 14.93%. The business had revenue of $893.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $888.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. Allegion’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Allegion plc will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Allegion Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Allegion’s dividend payout ratio is 31.32%.

Allegion Company Profile

Allegion plc manufactures and sells mechanical and electronic security products and solutions worldwide. The company offers door controls and systems and exit devices; locks, locksets, portable locks, and key systems and services; electronic security products and access control systems; time, attendance, and workforce productivity systems; doors, accessories, and other.