Transce3nd LLC Invests $568,000 in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,945 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $568,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Allstate by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,635,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,291,783,000 after acquiring an additional 389,426 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Allstate by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,419,728 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,236,060,000 after purchasing an additional 191,147 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in Allstate by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $832,181,000 after buying an additional 1,685,694 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,681,306 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $709,719,000 after buying an additional 106,730 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,834,172 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $353,610,000 after buying an additional 19,463 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Allstate Trading Up 0.2 %

ALL stock opened at $194.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $197.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $156.66 and a fifty-two week high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Allstate from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $219.27.

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.

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