Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 78,130 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 961,983 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 78,130 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.36% of Allstate worth $185,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,635,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,291,783,000 after buying an additional 389,426 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,496,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,190,758,000 after acquiring an additional 126,922 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,419,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,236,060,000 after purchasing an additional 191,147 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Allstate by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $832,181,000 after buying an additional 1,685,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Allstate by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,834,172 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $353,610,000 after buying an additional 19,463 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ALL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.80.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $186.74 on Friday. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $156.66 and a 12 month high of $212.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $197.37 and a 200-day moving average of $194.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $49.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.