Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 380,171 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,081,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.44% of Allison Transmission as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,993,015 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,404,025,000 after acquiring an additional 247,318 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in shares of 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 worth $257,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785,687 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,061,351 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $114,690,000 after purchasing an additional 69,008 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Allison Transmission in the 4th quarter worth $108,916,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Allison Transmission by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 956,691 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $103,380,000 after buying an additional 36,065 shares during the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allison Transmission

In other news, SVP John Coll sold 1,788 shares of Allison Transmission stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.33, for a total value of $170,450.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,388 shares in the company, valued at $1,466,938.04. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $437,325.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,360,075.60. This trade represents a 24.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Allison Transmission Trading Down 0.5 %

Allison Transmission stock opened at $88.93 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $7.58 billion, a PE ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.15. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.49 and a 12 month 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.11. Allison Transmission had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 47.95%. Analysts anticipate that Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. will post 9.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Allison Transmission announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto parts company to purchase up to 57.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. This is an increase from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Allison Transmission’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Allison Transmission from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Allison Transmission from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.13.

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.