The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC trimmed its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 945,078 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 12,142 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.36% of Allstate worth $181,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ALL shares. Argus raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report 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. Barclays cut their price target on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered Allstate from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $219.27.

Allstate Stock Performance

ALL stock traded up $1.86 during trading on Monday, reaching $194.77. The company had a trading volume of 259,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,610,351. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $51.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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 $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. This is a positive change from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

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.