Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 16,250 Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 16,250 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $2,124,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,045,966 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $589,659,000 after purchasing an additional 49,929 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,436,127 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $449,033,000 after purchasing an additional 257,175 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,111,414 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $306,699,000 after purchasing an additional 8,023 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,904,632 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $277,581,000 after purchasing an additional 232,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 96.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,674,644 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $244,063,000 after purchasing an additional 823,874 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.21% of the company's stock.

Allegion Price Performance

Shares of ALLE traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $126.45. 835,569 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 859,395. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $132.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.42. The company has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Allegion plc has a 1 year low of $113.27 and a 1 year high of $156.10.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $945.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $938.91 million. Allegion had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 45.64%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Allegion plc will post 7.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Allegion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Allegion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Allegion's payout ratio is currently 29.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ALLE. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Allegion from $152.00 to $144.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Allegion from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Allegion from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Allegion from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Allegion from $134.00 to $130.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.33.

Insider Transactions at Allegion

In other Allegion news, CEO John H. Stone purchased 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $140.70 per share, with a total value of $1,055,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,951,676.70. This trade represents a 6.64 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.