MML Investors Services LLC Purchases 3,595 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 51.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,634 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,595 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Allstate were worth $2,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Allstate by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,635,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,291,783,000 after purchasing an additional 389,426 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Allstate by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,419,728 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,236,060,000 after buying an additional 191,147 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $832,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685,694 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Allstate by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,681,306 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $709,719,000 after buying an additional 106,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,834,172 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $353,610,000 after purchasing an additional 19,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Argus upgraded Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $219.27.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $195.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $51.85 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $197.70 and a 200 day moving average of $194.74. 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 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, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

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

Insider Activity

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate 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.

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