The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Bought by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 118,609 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Allstate were worth $22,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $190.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $196.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.17. 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 Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $156.66 and a 12 month high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (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 analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 2.10%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s payout ratio is 23.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.00.

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.