Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Purchases 80 Shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,273 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Allegion were worth $2,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ALLE. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Allegion during the fourth quarter valued at $4,398,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Allegion by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 78,951 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $10,317,000 after buying an additional 10,246 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Allegion by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 38,403 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,019,000 after acquiring an additional 5,431 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its position in Allegion by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 12,140 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,586,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in Allegion by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,716,756 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $616,503,000 after acquiring an additional 488,390 shares during the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Allegion from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Allegion from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Allegion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Allegion from $134.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Allegion from $152.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.33.

Allegion Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of ALLE opened at $127.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.11. Allegion plc has a 12-month low of $113.27 and a 12-month high of $156.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $129.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last released 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 company had revenue of $945.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $938.91 million. Allegion had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 45.12%. Equities research analysts expect that Allegion plc will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Allegion Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is an increase from Allegion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Allegion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allegion news, SVP David S. Ilardi sold 789 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.28, for a total transaction of $98,845.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,205,820. This trade represents a 7.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Nickolas A. Musial sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 7.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,224 shares of company stock worth $406,636 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.