The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Bought by Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 23.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,976 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,496,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,190,758,000 after purchasing an additional 126,922 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Allstate by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,228,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,178,164,000 after purchasing an additional 74,537 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Allstate by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $832,181,000 after buying an additional 1,685,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

Allstate Stock Performance

Allstate stock opened at $209.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $195.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.65. 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 one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. 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. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Allstate Company 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.