Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Purchases 28,141 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 529,328 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 28,141 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned 0.20% of Allstate worth $102,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Argus raised shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.20.

Allstate Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE ALL traded up $2.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $204.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,169,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,615,248. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $198.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.95. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.45). The company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.41 billion. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Allstate's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.32%.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company'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 represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.