The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 80.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 246,770 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 110,138 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Allstate worth $47,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Allstate by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,635,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,291,783,000 after purchasing an additional 389,426 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Allstate by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,496,306 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,190,758,000 after acquiring an additional 126,922 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Allstate by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,228,581 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,178,164,000 after acquiring an additional 74,537 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Allstate by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $832,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Allstate by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,834,172 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $353,610,000 after purchasing an additional 19,463 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity

In other Allstate 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE ALL traded down $1.45 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $191.55. The stock had a trading volume of 369,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,610,401. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $156.66 and a 52-week high of $212.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $196.81 and a 200 day moving average of $194.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $50.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. This is a positive change from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $220.00.

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.