Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Buys New Shares in Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 165,780 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,664,000. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Allegion as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALLE. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Allegion by 0.4% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Allegion by 2.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Heritage Family Offices LLP increased its holdings in Allegion by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 2,645 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Allegion by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 452 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Allegion by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,541 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALLE. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of 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 raised Allegion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays dropped their target price on Allegion from $134.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Allegion from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Allegion from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.33.

Allegion Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of ALLE opened at $123.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.16, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.10. Allegion plc has a one year low of $113.27 and a one year high of $156.10. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.25. 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 the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $945.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $938.91 million. Allegion had a return on equity of 45.12% and a net margin of 15.84%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Allegion plc will post 7.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allegion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. This is a positive change from Allegion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Allegion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allegion

In related news, CAO Nickolas A. Musial sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total value of $50,254.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,972 shares in the company, valued at $620,008.40. This trade represents a 7.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack acquired 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $125.24 per share, with a total value of $1,001,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,001,920. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Allegion Company 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.