UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Sells 127 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lessened its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 127 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Allstate were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in Allstate by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $832,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685,694 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 15,062.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $215,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,748 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 389,426 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Allstate by 69.7% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 708,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $136,514,000 after acquiring an additional 290,858 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Allstate by 22,981.9% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 269,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,887,000 after acquiring an additional 267,969 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of ALL opened at $209.16 on Thursday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $195.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.54. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.43 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm 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 positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ALL shares. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays reduced their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

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.