Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 189,501 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 32.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 387,491 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 189,501 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.15% of Allstate worth $74,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Allstate by 11.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 933,352 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $177,010,000 after acquiring an additional 98,179 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Allstate by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,123 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in Allstate by 110.7% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 3,454 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter worth $10,031,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL traded down $18.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $186.74. The stock had a trading volume of 3,351,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,590,545. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.49 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $156.66 and a 12 month high of $212.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $197.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.35.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 an increase 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 presently 23.54%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ALL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Allstate from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $219.80.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

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.