Owen LaRue LLC Has $787,000 Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Owen LaRue LLC cut its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 32.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,083 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,917 shares during the quarter. Owen LaRue LLC's holdings in Allstate were worth $787,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In related 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Allstate Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ALL traded down $1.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $197.20. The stock had a trading volume of 2,985,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,625,993. The firm has a market cap of $52.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.83. 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 Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership 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 is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ALL. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $221.60.

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.