California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 1,437 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 409,668 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,437 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.15% of Allstate worth $78,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Argus upgraded Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on 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, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $221.60.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of ALL traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $199.15. 1,508,513 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,619,298. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.83. The company has a market capitalization of $52.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. 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 Allstate Co. has a one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. Allstate's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. This is a positive change from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's payout ratio is presently 27.32%.

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.