Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) Shares Purchased by Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,657 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Allegion were worth $609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Allegion during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Allegion during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Allegion by 56.1% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 320 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Allegion by 78.0% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 388 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Allegion by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 402 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Allegion Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ALLE opened at $128.81 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $129.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.60. Allegion plc has a 1 year low of $113.27 and a 1 year high of $156.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.11.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.11. Allegion had a return on equity of 45.12% and a net margin of 15.84%. The firm had revenue of $945.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $938.91 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Allegion plc will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allegion Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Allegion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Allegion’s payout ratio is presently 29.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Allegion from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays dropped their target price on Allegion from $134.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Allegion from $152.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Allegion from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Allegion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.33.

Insider Activity

In other Allegion news, CAO Nickolas A. Musial sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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. This represents a 7.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg C. Sengstack purchased 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $125.24 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,001,920. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,224 shares of company stock valued at $406,636. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.