Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Raises Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,134 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 70 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Allstate Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE ALL opened at $205.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $54.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $196.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.28.

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 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In related 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ALL. Barclays reduced 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. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.80.

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.