The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Purchased by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 24.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,678,253 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 324,690 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.63% of Allstate worth $323,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Allstate by 5.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $109,605,000 after buying an additional 28,584 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Allstate by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $944,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Allstate by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $11,297,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Allstate by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $98,065,000 after purchasing an additional 48,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $77,413,000 after purchasing an additional 100,311 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company'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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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 report on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $221.60.

Allstate Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ALL traded up $1.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $199.15. 1,508,513 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,619,299. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $198.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.88. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.98 by ($0.45). Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company 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 a positive change from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's payout ratio is currently 27.32%.

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.