The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Sold by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 29.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 194,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 81,400 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.07% of Allstate worth $37,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $219.27.

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Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of Allstate stock traded down $0.97 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $194.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,691,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,619,960. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $156.66 and a fifty-two week high of $212.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $51.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $196.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.27.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. On average, analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company's 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 directly owns 18,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

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.