Blair William & Co. IL Cuts Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 417,448 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,650 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned about 0.16% of Allstate worth $80,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL stock opened at $209.16 on Thursday. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $156.66 and a 52-week high of $212.91. The stock has a market cap of $55.43 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. On average, equities analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ALL shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Allstate currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

Allstate Company Profile

The Allstate Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty, and other insurance products in the United States and Canada. It operates in five segments: Allstate Protection; Protection Services; Allstate Health and Benefits; Run-off Property-Liability; and Corporate and Other segments.