F M Investments LLC Sells 96 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

F M Investments LLC lessened its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,335 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. F M Investments LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Allstate by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,605,000 after purchasing an additional 28,584 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 117.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $944,000 after buying an additional 2,643 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,297,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Allstate by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $98,065,000 after buying an additional 48,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in Allstate by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,413,000 after acquiring an additional 100,311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Allstate Price Performance

Allstate stock opened at $192.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $196.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.18. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly 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, research analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign 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 issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ALL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. 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 given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.27.

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.