Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 37,033 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 443,608 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,033 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.17% of Allstate worth $84,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Allstate by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,635,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,291,783,000 after acquiring an additional 389,426 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Allstate by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,496,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,190,758,000 after purchasing an additional 126,922 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,228,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,178,164,000 after purchasing an additional 74,537 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $832,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,834,172 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $353,610,000 after purchasing an additional 19,463 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $209.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $55.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $156.66 and a 12 month high of $212.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $195.46 and a 200-day moving average of $193.65.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

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.