Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,026 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 982 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Allstate were worth $2,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ALL. United Bank purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 8.8% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 2,389 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 4.9% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Commerce Bank boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 24.0% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 53,925 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,227,000 after buying an additional 10,453 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 6.0% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 147,466 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,967,000 after buying an additional 8,412 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of ALL opened at $210.20 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.94. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $55.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Equities analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows 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 shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

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.