Allegion PLC $ALLE Shares Bought by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Allegion PLC by 380%, acquiring 885,857 shares to hold a total of over 1.1 million shares valued at approximately $142.7 million.
• Wall Street analysts have revised their target prices for Allegion, with Bank of America raising theirs from $110 to $175, indicating a positive outlook for the company's stock performance.
• Allegion reported $2.04 earnings per share in its latest quarterly earnings, surpassing analyst expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue growth of 5.8%.

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Allegion PLC (NYSE:ALLE - Free Report) by 380.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,118,960 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 885,857 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 1.30% of Allegion worth $142,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALLE. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in Allegion by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,944 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allegion during the fourth quarter worth about $568,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Allegion by 79.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 135,605 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $17,729,000 after buying an additional 60,223 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Allegion by 154.6% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 386,331 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $50,486,000 after buying an additional 234,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Allegion by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,642 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allegion Price Performance

ALLE traded up $1.27 on Monday, hitting $173.13. 577,863 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 965,654. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $160.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.24. The firm has a market cap of $14.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.07. Allegion PLC has a one year low of $116.57 and a one year high of $173.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $999.10 million. Allegion had a return on equity of 42.62% and a net margin of 16.15%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. Allegion has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.000-8.150 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Allegion PLC will post 7.77 EPS for the current year.

Allegion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Allegion's payout ratio is presently 28.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ALLE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Allegion from $149.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America upgraded Allegion from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $110.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Allegion from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Allegion in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Allegion from $139.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $166.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Timothy P. Eckersley sold 10,810 shares of Allegion stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.76, for a total value of $1,781,055.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 30,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,946,589.48. The trade was a 26.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tracy L. Kemp sold 3,849 shares of Allegion stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.92, for a total value of $634,777.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,773 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,446,843.16. This trade represents a 30.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

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.