Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Trims Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALL. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

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Allstate Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of ALL stock traded up $5.33 on Thursday, reaching $210.20. 2,542,626 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,501,457. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $192.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.82. The company has a market capitalization of $55.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a PEG 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 $212.96.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate's payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $217.94.

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.