Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Acquires 863 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,950 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 863 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Allstate by 152.7% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 278 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allstate Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE ALL opened at $172.27 on Thursday. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $100.57 and a one year high of $176.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $164.72 and its 200-day moving average is $148.59.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $1.95. The company had revenue of $14.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.69 billion. Allstate had a positive return on equity of 2.67% and a negative net margin of 0.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.36) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 13.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently -296.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on ALL shares. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Allstate from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $130.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Allstate from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.71.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other news, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total transaction of $5,276,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,847,016.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $637,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,712,069.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total value of $5,276,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,847,016.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.