Caxton Associates LP Lowers Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Caxton Associates LP decreased its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 35.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,313 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,381 shares during the quarter. Caxton Associates LP's holdings in Allstate were worth $832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Allstate by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 529,328 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $102,049,000 after acquiring an additional 28,141 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Allstate by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 2,144 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 157.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,591,138 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,270,705,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035,629 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 38,540 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,435,000 after purchasing an additional 4,178 shares during the period. Finally, Alteri Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $492,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on ALL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $224.73.

Allstate Trading Up 1.1 %

ALL opened at $202.42 on Wednesday. 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 Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91. The business's 50 day moving average is $198.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.95. The firm has a market cap of $53.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.45). The business 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.13 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.32%.

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

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other Allstate 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

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.

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