54,879 Shares in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Purchased by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 54,879 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,580,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 22.8% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in Allstate by 104.2% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 5,728 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,836,000. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Allstate by 5.3% in the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,776 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Allstate by 534.3% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,530 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,359,000 after purchasing an additional 28,244 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALL has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $219.27.

Allstate Price Performance

ALL traded down $2.29 on Friday, reaching $192.57. The stock had a trading volume of 346,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,609,509. 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 has a market capitalization of $51.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $156.66 and a fifty-two week high of $212.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $197.54 and a 200-day moving average of $194.49.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is a boost from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

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

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

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.