Lafayette Investments Inc. Raises Stock Position in Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE)

Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 30,219 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,278 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Allegion were worth $3,828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Allegion by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,310,495 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $165,516,000 after buying an additional 23,155 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Allegion by 214.1% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 242,313 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $30,699,000 after acquiring an additional 165,165 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Allegion by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 33,364 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,477,000 after acquiring an additional 9,476 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in Allegion by 41.2% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 35,196 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,667,000 after acquiring an additional 10,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its holdings in Allegion by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 105,262 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $10,975,000 after acquiring an additional 7,678 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allegion news, VP Timothy P. Eckersley sold 5,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.99, for a total transaction of $656,059.53. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 35,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,623,354.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Robert C. Martens sold 5,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total value of $716,140.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,003,606.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Timothy P. Eckersley sold 5,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.99, for a total transaction of $656,059.53. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 35,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,623,354.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Allegion Stock Performance

NYSE:ALLE traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $125.59. The stock had a trading volume of 51,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 708,761. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.74. Allegion plc has a 52 week low of $95.94 and a 52 week high of $136.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $897.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $904.17 million. Allegion had a net margin of 14.80% and a return on equity of 51.95%. Allegion’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Allegion plc will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allegion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Allegion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Allegion from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Allegion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Allegion from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Allegion from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $139.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of Allegion from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $141.00 in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.83.

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.