Boston Partners Sells 4,489 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Boston Partners lessened its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 347,761 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,489 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Allstate were worth $67,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALL. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in Allstate by 15,062.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $215,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,748 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Allstate by 69.7% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 708,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $136,514,000 after acquiring an additional 290,858 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Allstate by 22,981.9% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 269,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $51,887,000 after acquiring an additional 267,969 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of Allstate by 291.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 356,065 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,528,000 after acquiring an additional 265,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prana Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Allstate by 539.9% during the 3rd quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 273,655 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $51,899,000 after acquiring an additional 230,893 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

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 transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $204.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $54.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $211.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $192.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.82.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate declared that its board has approved 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 repurchase 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 stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.