The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Purchased by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,496,017 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 477,221 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.32% of Allstate worth $673,997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ALL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Allstate by 64.1% during 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. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in Allstate by 15,062.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $215,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,748 shares during the last quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. bought a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $143,165,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Allstate by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,635,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,291,783,000 after acquiring an additional 389,426 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Allstate Trading Down 0.6 %

ALL stock traded down $1.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $197.20. 2,985,058 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,625,993. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $52.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.79. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $156.66 and a 12-month high of $212.91.

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

Allstate declared 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 purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on ALL shares. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.