Vest Financial LLC Invests $2.34 Million in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN)

Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 24,479 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $2,342,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ALSN. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Allison Transmission by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 25,289 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $2,733,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 10,182 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in Allison Transmission by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,381 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Allison Transmission by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,939 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Allison Transmission by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,679 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allison Transmission Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of Allison Transmission stock traded down $2.49 during trading on Monday, hitting $101.07. 826,030 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 645,771. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 3.04 and a quick ratio of 2.42. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $96.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.28. The stock has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 1.00. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.49 and a 12-month high of $122.53.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The auto parts company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.26. Allison Transmission had a return on equity of 47.95% and a net margin of 22.67%. The company had revenue of $766.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $792.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. Allison Transmission's revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. will post 9.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allison Transmission Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Allison Transmission's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Allison Transmission declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the auto parts company to buy up to 57.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ALSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $98.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Allison Transmission from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Allison Transmission from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John Coll sold 1,788 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.33, for a total transaction of $170,450.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,388 shares in the company, valued at $1,466,938.04. This represents a 10.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 3,412 shares of Allison Transmission stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.24, for a total transaction of $359,078.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,254,881.76. This represents a 22.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.