First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Holdings in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN - Free Report) by 26.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 330,259 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 121,578 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.38% of Allison Transmission worth $35,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SRH Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allison Transmission during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Allison Transmission during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Allison Transmission in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in Allison Transmission by 1,650.0% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 420 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Allison Transmission during the 4th quarter valued at $61,000. 96.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $437,325.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,360,075.60. This represents a 24.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP John Coll sold 1,788 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.33, for a total value of $170,450.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,466,938.04. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on ALSN shares. StockNews.com lowered Allison Transmission from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on Allison Transmission from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $112.00 to $94.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.88.

Allison Transmission Stock Performance

NYSE ALSN traded down $0.36 on Wednesday, reaching $92.13. 1,114,960 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 637,188. 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 one year low of $71.49 and a one year high of $122.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 0.95. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $94.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.47.

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

Allison Transmission declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the auto parts company to purchase up to 57.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Allison Transmission's dividend payout ratio is 13.00%.

About Allison Transmission

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.