Headlands Technologies LLC Purchases Shares of 2,417 Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE)

Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,417 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Allegion by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,152,831 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $280,607,000 after buying an additional 41,417 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Allegion by 95.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 97,403 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $12,729,000 after acquiring an additional 47,635 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Allegion by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 295,102 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,564,000 after acquiring an additional 15,790 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Allegion by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 8,126 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Allegion by 71.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALLE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Allegion from $130.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com cut Allegion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Allegion from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Allegion from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Allegion from $152.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.67.

Allegion Stock Performance

Allegion stock opened at $123.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $10.66 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.01. Allegion plc has a 12-month low of $113.27 and a 12-month high of $156.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.89.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $945.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $938.91 million. Allegion had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 45.12%. As a group, analysts expect that Allegion plc will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allegion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Allegion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Allegion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP David S. Ilardi sold 789 shares of Allegion stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.28, for a total transaction of $98,845.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,205,820. This trade represents a 7.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Nickolas A. Musial sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total transaction of $50,254.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,972 shares in the company, valued at $620,008.40. The trade was a 7.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,224 shares of company stock worth $406,636 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.