The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Acquired by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 22,981.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 269,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 267,969 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $51,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALL. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the third quarter worth $29,000. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Allstate from $216.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allstate has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

Allstate Trading Up 3.5 %

NYSE:ALL opened at $195.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $153.87 and a one year high of $209.88. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.71. The stock has a market cap of $51.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.66%.

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.