Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Acquires 53,500 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 297,419 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 53,500 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.11% of Allstate worth $57,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ALL. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in Allstate by 104.2% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 5,728 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the third quarter valued at $2,836,000. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,776 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,095,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 534.3% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,530 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,359,000 after buying an additional 28,244 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ALL shares. Argus raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Allstate from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Allstate has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $219.27.

Allstate Price Performance

Allstate stock traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $193.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,156,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,615,648. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $197.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. Research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

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.