Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Acquires 742 Shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,681 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 742 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Allegion were worth $3,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners grew its stake in Allegion by 17.2% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,613,219 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $584,157,000 after acquiring an additional 825,048 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Allegion by 3.9% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,218,915 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $335,411,000 after buying an additional 119,954 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Allegion by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,215,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $407,391,000 after buying an additional 441,882 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Allegion by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,467,586 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $152,922,000 after acquiring an additional 153,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Allegion by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,360,639 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $141,779,000 after acquiring an additional 4,332 shares in the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allegion Trading Up 0.5 %

ALLE stock traded up $0.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $122.88. The company had a trading volume of 603,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 587,880. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Allegion plc has a 52-week low of $95.94 and a 52-week high of $136.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.27.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $893.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $888.27 million. Allegion had a return on equity of 48.58% and a net margin of 14.93%. Allegion’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Allegion plc will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allegion Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Allegion’s payout ratio is currently 31.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Allegion

In other Allegion news, CEO John H. Stone purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $132.41 per share, for a total transaction of $1,324,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 104,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,803,477.68. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Robert C. Martens sold 5,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total value of $716,140.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,555 shares in the company, valued at $1,003,606.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John H. Stone purchased 10,000 shares of Allegion stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $132.41 per share, with a total value of $1,324,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 104,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,803,477.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Allegion

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.