Swiss National Bank Cuts Holdings in Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 274,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 8,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.31% of Allegion worth $34,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allegion in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Allegion by 153.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 380 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allegion during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Allegion during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Allegion by 37.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 633 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Allegion Stock Performance

Allegion stock opened at $124.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $129.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.90. Allegion plc has a fifty-two week low of $95.94 and a fifty-two week high of $136.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.10. Allegion had a return on equity of 48.58% and a net margin of 14.93%. The company had revenue of $893.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $888.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Allegion plc will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allegion Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Timothy P. Eckersley sold 5,047 shares of Allegion 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 sale, the vice president now owns 35,567 shares in the company, valued at $4,623,354.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Allegion news, VP Timothy P. Eckersley sold 5,047 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.99, for a total transaction of $656,059.53. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 35,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,623,354.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $716,140.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,555 shares in the company, valued at $1,003,606.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.