The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Bought by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,641,033 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 117,780 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.62% of Allstate worth $316,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Allstate from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $219.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Allstate Stock Performance

Allstate stock traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $193.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,156,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,612,496. 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 $51.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The company's fifty day moving average is $197.54 and its 200-day moving average is $194.49. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $156.66 and a 12-month high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last released 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%. Equities research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is a positive change from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

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

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.