Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) Stake Lessened by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 785,590 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 97,754 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.91% of Allison Transmission worth $84,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allison Transmission during the third quarter worth approximately $290,000. Commerce Bank boosted its position in Allison Transmission by 2.8% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 7,826 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $752,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Allison Transmission by 180.6% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,905 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Allison Transmission by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 914,918 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $87,896,000 after purchasing an additional 233,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Allison Transmission by 4.2% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 43,114 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733 shares in the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allison Transmission Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of ALSN opened at $100.33 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 1.02. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.49 and a 12-month high of $122.53.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The auto parts company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.11. Allison Transmission had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 47.95%. As a group, research analysts predict that Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. will post 9.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Allison Transmission declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto parts company to reacquire up to 57.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Allison Transmission’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allison Transmission

In related news, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $437,325.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,360,075.60. This trade represents a 24.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP John Coll sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.40, for a total value of $216,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $695,928. The trade was a 23.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALSN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Allison Transmission from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup cut their target price on Allison Transmission from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.00.

Allison Transmission Profile

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells fully automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles and medium- and heavy-tactical U.S. defense vehicles, and electrified propulsion systems worldwide. It provides commercial-duty on-highway, off-highway and defense fully automatic transmissions, and electric hybrid and fully electric systems.