Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,457 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,122 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,457 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $11,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Allstate by 5.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,605,000 after purchasing an additional 28,584 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Allstate by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $944,000 after buying an additional 2,643 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Allstate by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,297,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its position in Allstate by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,413,000 after acquiring an additional 100,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Allstate by 38.0% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,067,000 after acquiring an additional 2,888 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE:ALL opened at $195.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. 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 Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $153.87 and a 12-month high of $209.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $190.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.71.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.66%.

Allstate declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Allstate from $216.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’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 value of $7,480,226.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.