Bryce Point Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE)

Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new position in Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,747 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $490,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Allegion during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $108,058,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allegion by 96.8% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,674,644 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $244,063,000 after acquiring an additional 823,874 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Allegion during the fourth quarter worth about $65,175,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Allegion by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,716,756 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $616,503,000 after acquiring an additional 488,390 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Allegion by 312.4% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 574,012 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $75,012,000 after purchasing an additional 434,820 shares during the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Nickolas A. Musial sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total transaction of $50,254.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,972 shares in the company, valued at $620,008.40. The trade was a 7.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tracy L. Kemp sold 2,032 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.74, for a total transaction of $257,535.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,302,000.02. This represents a 16.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,224 shares of company stock worth $406,636. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ALLE. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Allegion from $152.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com cut Allegion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Allegion from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Allegion from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Allegion from $130.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allegion has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.67.

Allegion Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of ALLE stock opened at $127.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.01. Allegion plc has a fifty-two week low of $113.27 and a fifty-two week high of $156.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.11. Allegion had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 45.12%. The company had revenue of $945.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $938.91 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Allegion plc will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allegion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Allegion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Allegion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.91%.

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.