Magnetar Financial LLC Sells 10,936 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Magnetar Financial LLC lowered its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 65.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 10,936 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ALL. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Allstate Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $206.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $193.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.07. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91. The stock has a market cap of $54.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

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

Allstate declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.