Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stake in Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) by 39.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,432 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,529 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Allegion were worth $3,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALLE. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Allegion by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,516 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. boosted its position in Allegion by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 7,180 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Allegion by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 400,859 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $52,384,000 after acquiring an additional 29,888 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Allegion by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 126,676 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $16,554,000 after acquiring an additional 5,236 shares during the period. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Allegion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $304,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Allegion

In other Allegion news, CAO Nickolas A. Musial sold 403 shares of Allegion stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total value of $50,254.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $620,008.40. The trade was a 7.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tracy L. Kemp sold 2,032 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.74, for a total value of $257,535.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,273 shares in the company, valued at $1,302,000.02. The trade was a 16.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,224 shares of company stock worth $406,636 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Allegion Stock Performance

Shares of ALLE stock opened at $125.02 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.04. Allegion plc has a one year low of $113.27 and a one year high of $156.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $127.72 and its 200 day moving average is $134.80.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $945.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $938.91 million. Allegion had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 45.12%. Sell-side analysts expect that Allegion plc will post 7.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allegion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Allegion’s payout ratio is 29.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Allegion 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.