Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Raises Stock Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,334,926 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 218,771 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 3.53% of Allstate worth $1,799,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in Allstate by 22.8% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Allstate by 104.2% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 5,728 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,836,000. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,776 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Allstate by 534.3% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,530 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,359,000 after purchasing an additional 28,244 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on ALL shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut Allstate from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $219.27.

Allstate Price Performance

Allstate stock traded down $1.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $193.02. 1,156,082 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,614,301. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $197.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.56. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $156.66 and a 52-week high of $212.91. The company has a market cap of $51.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is a boost from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.