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

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 23.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank bought a new stake in Allstate during the third quarter valued at $209,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 40,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,694,000 after buying an additional 9,336 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Allstate by 49.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Allstate by 32.7% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 269,708 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,150,000 after acquiring an additional 66,483 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Allstate by 61.5% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,584 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,473,000 after acquiring an additional 8,983 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Up 0.0 %

ALL stock opened at $209.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $55.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $156.66 and a 12 month high of $212.91. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.65.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ALL shares. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Allstate currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

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.