Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN)

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,151,945 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 210,230 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.57% of Allison Transmission worth $988,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Allison Transmission by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,961,834 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $188,511,000 after buying an additional 79,506 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,682,076 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $161,597,000 after acquiring an additional 13,252 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,061,351 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $114,690,000 after acquiring an additional 69,008 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Allison Transmission by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 478,519 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $51,709,000 after purchasing an additional 51,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Allison Transmission in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,081,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total value of $437,325.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,360,075.60. This trade represents a 24.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Coll sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.40, for a total transaction of $216,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $695,928. This represents a 23.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALSN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Allison Transmission from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com lowered Allison Transmission from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their target price on Allison Transmission from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Allison Transmission currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.00.

Allison Transmission Stock Performance

NYSE:ALSN opened at $96.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 3.04 and a quick ratio of 2.42. The firm has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.18. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.49 and a 1-year high of $122.53.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The auto parts company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.11. Allison Transmission had a return on equity of 47.95% and a net margin of 22.67%. On average, equities analysts expect that Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. will post 9.06 EPS for the current year.

Allison Transmission announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto parts company to repurchase up to 57.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Allison Transmission’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.00%.

Allison Transmission Profile

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells fully automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles and medium- and heavy-tactical U.S. defense vehicles, and electrified propulsion systems worldwide. It provides commercial-duty on-highway, off-highway and defense fully automatic transmissions, and electric hybrid and fully electric systems.