Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Sells 3,645 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,645 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $5,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ALL. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.80.

Allstate Trading Down 1.4 %

ALL stock opened at $206.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $54.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $195.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $193.85. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $212.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Allstate’s payout ratio is 23.54%.

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.