The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Bought by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 42.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 221,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,177 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Allstate were worth $42,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

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 stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.80.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $206.46 on Monday. 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 $54.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.91.

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

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes 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 firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.54%.

About Allstate

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.