JLB & Associates Inc. Purchases 479 Shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE)

JLB & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,652 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the period. JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Allegion were worth $4,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Allegion by 9.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,865 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Allegion during the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Allegion by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Allegion by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 726 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Allegion during the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced 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. Barclays reduced their price target on Allegion from $134.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Allegion from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Allegion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Allegion from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.33.

Allegion Trading Up 0.4 %

Allegion stock opened at $127.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $131.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.24. Allegion plc has a one year low of $113.27 and a one year high of $156.10.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last posted 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 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 45.53%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Allegion plc will post 7.65 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. Stockholders 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 is a positive change from Allegion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Allegion’s payout ratio is 29.91%.

Insider Activity at Allegion

In other Allegion news, CEO John H. Stone purchased 7,500 shares of Allegion stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was bought 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 owns 120,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,951,676.70. This represents a 6.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Nickolas A. Musial sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by 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.