BNP Paribas Financial Markets Trims Stake in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets reduced its position in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) by 54.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,857 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 19,101 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Allison Transmission were worth $1,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALSN. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Allison Transmission in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. SRH Advisors LLC bought a new position in Allison Transmission in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Allison Transmission in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Allison Transmission in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Allison Transmission in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 96.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allison Transmission from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of 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 assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.63.

Insider Activity at Allison Transmission

In related news, SVP John Coll sold 1,788 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,466,938.04. This represents a 10.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $437,325.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,360,075.60. The trade was a 24.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Allison Transmission Price Performance

NYSE ALSN opened at $106.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a current ratio of 3.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $94.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.55. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.49 and a 52-week high of $122.53. The company has a market cap of $8.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.97.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The auto parts company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.26. Allison Transmission had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 47.95%. The company had revenue of $766.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $792.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. Allison Transmission’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. will post 9.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allison Transmission Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Allison Transmission’s payout ratio is 12.50%.

Allison Transmission declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the auto parts company to buy up to 57.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.