Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC Invests $281,000 in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,459 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in Allstate by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,496,306 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,190,758,000 after purchasing an additional 126,922 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Allstate by 15,062.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $215,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,748 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Allstate by 11.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 933,352 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $177,010,000 after purchasing an additional 98,179 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 783,300 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $148,553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ALL stock traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $199.65. 1,598,146 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,861,407. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $154.76 and a 52-week high of $209.88. The stock has a market cap of $52.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $190.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.41.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate's payout ratio is 23.54%.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business'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 approximately $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ALL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $217.94.

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.