Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Buys 1,785,687 Shares of Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) by 301.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,378,731 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 1,785,687 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Allison Transmission were worth $257,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALSN. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Allison Transmission by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,745,697 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,224,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,310 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Allison Transmission by 4.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,961,834 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $188,511,000 after acquiring an additional 79,506 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Allison Transmission by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,682,076 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $161,597,000 after purchasing an additional 13,252 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,061,351 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $114,690,000 after purchasing an additional 69,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 914,918 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $87,896,000 after buying an additional 233,214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Allison Transmission Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALSN opened at $99.25 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.16. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.49 and a twelve month high of $122.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

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

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Allison Transmission’s payout ratio is 13.00%.

Allison Transmission announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto parts company to buy up to 57.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ALSN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Allison Transmission from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Allison Transmission from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Insider Activity at Allison Transmission

In related news, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total value 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 $1,360,075.60. This represents a 24.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP John Coll sold 2,000 shares of Allison Transmission stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.40, for a total value of $216,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $695,928. The trade was a 23.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.