California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 7,800 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,213,338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,800 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.46% of Allstate worth $233,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Apella Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA increased its position in Allstate by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 12,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

ALL opened at $206.46 on Monday. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $156.66 and a 12 month high of $212.91. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.91. The stock has a market cap of $54.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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

Allstate announced that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.80.

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.