Norges Bank Makes New $108.92 Million Investment in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,007,924 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $108,916,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.16% of Allison Transmission at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Allison Transmission by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 43,114 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $4,142,000 after buying an additional 1,733 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 6.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 79,358 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $7,658,000 after purchasing an additional 4,690 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 30.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,958 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $3,358,000 after purchasing an additional 8,072 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Allison Transmission in the third quarter worth about $317,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 31,499 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 6,113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.90% of the company's stock.

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Allison Transmission Price Performance

NYSE ALSN traded down $4.47 on Friday, reaching $86.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,077,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 627,326. The firm has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.49 and a 52 week high of $122.53. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $102.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.66.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The auto parts company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.11. Allison Transmission had a return on equity of 47.95% and a net margin of 22.67%. Sell-side analysts expect that Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. will post 9.06 EPS for the current year.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Allison Transmission's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Allison Transmission's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.00%.

Allison Transmission announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto parts company to repurchase up to 57.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ALSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Allison Transmission from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $115.00 to $108.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Allison Transmission from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Allison Transmission from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Allison Transmission has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $101.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Coll sold 1,788 shares of Allison Transmission stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.33, for a total value of $170,450.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,466,938.04. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,360,075.60. This represents a 24.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Allison Transmission Profile

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.