AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Invests $42.99 Million in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 222,980 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,988,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

NYSE:ALL opened at $187.53 on Friday. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $153.87 and a 52 week high of $209.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $191.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $189.50.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its 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 return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate 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 approximately $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on Allstate from $216.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Allstate from $216.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

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.