Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Grows Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 106.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,107 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 8,289 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Allstate were worth $3,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Allstate by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $109,605,000 after buying an additional 28,584 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Allstate by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $944,000 after buying an additional 2,643 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Allstate by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $11,297,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position in shares of Allstate by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,413,000 after buying an additional 100,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Allstate by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,497 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,067,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL stock traded down $3.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $185.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,427,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,864,422. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $153.87 and a fifty-two week high of $209.88. The firm has a market cap of $49.12 billion, a PE ratio of 10.92, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.52. 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $190.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.15.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. 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 research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $216.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.94.

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.