First American Trust FSB Sells 650 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

First American Trust FSB decreased its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 33.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,268 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 650 shares during the period. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in Allstate were worth $244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ALL. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE ALL opened at $208.14 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $194.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.43. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The firm has a market cap of $55.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.