Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) Shares Sold by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. cut its stake in Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 238,080 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,233 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 0.27% of Allegion worth $32,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALLE. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Allegion in the 4th quarter worth $120,959,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Allegion in the 4th quarter worth $110,740,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Allegion in the 4th quarter worth $66,449,000. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,895,352 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $240,122,000 after acquiring an additional 470,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,215,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $407,391,000 after acquiring an additional 441,882 shares during the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allegion Stock Performance

Shares of Allegion stock opened at $116.06 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $120.81 and a 200 day moving average of $125.35. Allegion plc has a 12 month low of $95.94 and a 12 month high of $136.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.10. Allegion had a return on equity of 48.58% and a net margin of 14.93%. The company had revenue of $893.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $888.27 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. Allegion’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Allegion plc will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Allegion Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Allegion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allegion

In other Allegion news, SVP Tracy L. Kemp sold 2,194 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $267,624.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,354,343.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ALLE. StockNews.com upgraded Allegion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays cut Allegion from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $122.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Allegion from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.83.

Allegion Company 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.