Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 102,584 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,747 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $19,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank bought a new stake in Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at about $209,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the third quarter valued at approximately $284,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Allstate by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 12,552 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,380,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the period. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $224,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE ALL opened at $207.68 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.47. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $209.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $55.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ALL shares. Barclays dropped their target price on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.