Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,419,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 191,147 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.42% of Allstate worth $1,236,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Allstate by 1.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 389,426 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,496,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,190,758,000 after buying an additional 126,922 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $832,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685,694 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Allstate by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,834,172 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $353,610,000 after acquiring an additional 19,463 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at $344,354,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Up 0.2 %

Allstate stock opened at $207.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $54.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $156.66 and a 12 month high of $212.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.20.

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

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Allstate currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.80.

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.