Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 989 Shares of Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,668 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 989 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Allison Transmission were worth $1,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allison Transmission in the fourth quarter worth $2,161,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Allison Transmission by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 293,753 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $31,643,000 after acquiring an additional 46,435 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 53,014 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $5,729,000 after purchasing an additional 6,728 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 115.6% in the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 13,950 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 7,479 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission by 46.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,050 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $24,955,000 after buying an additional 79,745 shares during the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allison Transmission Price Performance

Shares of Allison Transmission stock opened at $86.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $102.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.54. 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 1-year low of $71.49 and a 1-year high of $122.53.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The auto parts company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.11. Allison Transmission had a return on equity of 47.95% and a net margin of 22.67%. On average, equities analysts predict that Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. will post 9.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allison Transmission declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the auto parts company to purchase up to 57.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. This is a positive change from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Allison Transmission’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allison Transmission

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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,388 shares in the company, valued at $1,466,938.04. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,360,075.60. This trade represents a 24.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $115.00 to $108.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Allison Transmission from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.13.

Allison Transmission Company 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.