Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Makes New Investment in Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 10,200 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,374,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in Allegion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,959,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Allegion in the 4th quarter valued at $110,740,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new stake in Allegion during the 4th quarter worth $66,449,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Allegion by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,895,352 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $240,122,000 after buying an additional 470,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Allegion by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,215,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $407,391,000 after purchasing an additional 441,882 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Allegion from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on Allegion from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays raised their target price on Allegion from $112.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Allegion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.40.

Allegion Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALLE traded up $0.93 on Tuesday, hitting $138.59. 446,178 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 703,872. Allegion plc has a 1-year low of $95.94 and a 1-year high of $141.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $120.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.13.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $965.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $953.63 million. Allegion had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 47.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Allegion plc will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allegion

In other Allegion news, SVP Tracy L. Kemp sold 2,194 shares of Allegion stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $267,624.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,354,343.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.