Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 885,248 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 41.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,271,137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 885,248 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.48% of Allstate worth $245,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.27.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE ALL opened at $195.04 on Thursday. 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 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $197.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.39. The company has a market capitalization of $51.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Allstate 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.