Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 2,400 Shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its position in shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,632 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 2,400 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Allegion were worth $1,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Allegion by 0.4% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 19,697 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,871,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Allegion by 2.9% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,913 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP increased its holdings in shares of Allegion by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 2,645 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Allegion by 2.8% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,541 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Allegion by 2.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,925 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Allegion from $134.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allegion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Allegion from $152.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allegion

In other news, Director Gregg C. Sengstack bought 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $125.24 per share, with a total value of $1,001,920.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,001,920. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John H. Stone bought 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $140.70 per share, with a total value of $1,055,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,951,676.70. This trade represents a 6.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Allegion Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ALLE opened at $129.45 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.38. The firm has a market cap of $11.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.11. Allegion plc has a 1 year low of $113.27 and a 1 year high of $156.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

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

Allegion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Allegion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Allegion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.15%.

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.