Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Buys 190 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,682 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 190 shares during the quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $3,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ALL. Barclays cut their target price on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $199.65 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $52.91 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $154.76 and a 12 month high of $209.88. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.