Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Cuts Stock Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL reduced its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,700 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,200 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL's holdings in Allstate were worth $8,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALL. Apella Capital LLC lifted its position in Allstate by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 12,135 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,340,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Allstate by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Allstate by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALL. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Allstate from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $219.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL traded down $9.32 on Monday, reaching $185.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 705,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,617,521. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $197.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.42. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $49.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. Research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This is a boost from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is 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.