Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Boosts Stake in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) by 301.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,378,731 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,785,687 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned 2.75% of Allison Transmission worth $257,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALSN. SRH Advisors LLC bought a new position in Allison Transmission in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Allison Transmission during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allison Transmission in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Allison Transmission in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission by 46.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 358 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at Allison Transmission

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

Allison Transmission Trading Down 0.8 %

Allison Transmission stock opened at $99.25 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.00 and a 200-day moving average of $106.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 3.04 and a quick ratio of 2.42. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $71.49 and a one year high of $122.53.

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

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Allison Transmission’s payout ratio is presently 13.00%.

Allison Transmission announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the auto parts company to buy up to 57.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Allison Transmission Company 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.