LPL Financial LLC Purchases 29,238 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 250,211 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,238 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $48,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALL. Apella Capital LLC grew its position in Allstate by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Allstate by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Allstate by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Allstate by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $209.38 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $195.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. 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 fifty-two week low of $156.66 and a fifty-two week high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued 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, equities analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date 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 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.