Woodline Partners LP Sells 9,586 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Woodline Partners LP reduced its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 336,159 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 9,586 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.13% of Allstate worth $64,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a report on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Allstate from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.20.

Allstate Stock Performance

ALL stock opened at $209.90 on Tuesday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $199.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.93. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The firm has a market cap of $55.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.98 by ($0.45). The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.41 billion. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.13 EPS. Analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.32%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Company 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.