The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 322,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 15,859 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $62,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ALL. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com cut Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.80.

Allstate Trading Down 9.1 %

Shares of ALL opened at $186.74 on Friday. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $156.66 and a fifty-two week high of $212.91. The company has a market capitalization of $49.49 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $197.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate 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 $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Allstate 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.