Norges Bank Buys Shares of 1,007,924 Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,007,924 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,916,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.16% of Allison Transmission at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in Allison Transmission by 301.1% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,378,731 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $257,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785,687 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,961,834 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $188,511,000 after purchasing an additional 79,506 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Allison Transmission by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,682,076 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $161,597,000 after purchasing an additional 13,252 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Allison Transmission by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,061,351 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $114,690,000 after buying an additional 69,008 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 478,519 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $51,709,000 after buying an additional 51,976 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Allison Transmission Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of ALSN stock opened at $97.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a current ratio of 3.04. The company has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.02. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.49 and a 52-week high of $122.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.59.

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

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 dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. 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 (DPR) is 13.00%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Allison Transmission from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Allison Transmission from $115.00 to $108.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Allison Transmission from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Allison Transmission from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the firm’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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,138 shares in the company, valued at $1,360,075.60. This trade represents a 24.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

About Allison Transmission

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.