Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 565,455 Shares of Allegion PLC $ALLE

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its stake in Allegion PLC by 27.1%, selling 565,455 shares and now owns approximately 1.77% of the company valued at $198.8 million.
• Recent insider sales included SVP Timothy P. Eckersley selling 10,810 shares for over $1.78 million, representing a 26.47% drop in his ownership, while SVP Tracy L. Kemp sold 3,849 shares worth about $634,777.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets on Allegion, with Wells Fargo increasing it from $150 to $175, and Bank of America updating its rating from "underperform" to "neutral" with a price target also set at $175.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Allegion PLC (NYSE:ALLE - Free Report) by 27.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,523,784 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 565,455 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 1.77% of Allegion worth $198,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ALLE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Allegion by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,767,073 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,404,672,000 after purchasing an additional 48,615 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,752,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $619,700,000 after acquiring an additional 35,635 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,897,407 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $509,313,000 after acquiring an additional 38,377 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,147,110 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $280,112,000 after acquiring an additional 136,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,141,492 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $279,379,000 after acquiring an additional 249,295 shares in the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Allegion Stock Performance

NYSE ALLE traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $167.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 563,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 984,976. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $151.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.06. The company has a market cap of $14.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Allegion PLC has a 12 month low of $116.57 and a 12 month high of $170.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.04. Allegion had a return on equity of 42.62% and a net margin of 16.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $999.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Allegion PLC will post 7.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allegion 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 30,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,946,589.48. The trade was a 26.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,446,843.16. The trade was a 30.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ALLE. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Allegion from $139.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Allegion from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Allegion from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays upgraded Allegion from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Allegion currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $166.75.

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.