The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Bought by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 118.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,625 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,424 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Allstate Stock Up 0.4 %

Allstate stock opened at $208.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $55.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25, 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $194.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.43. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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 given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Allstate’s payout ratio is 23.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ALL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Barclays lowered 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. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allstate currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

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.