Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,134 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. OV Management LLC increased its holdings in Allstate by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. OV Management LLC now owns 10,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,044,000 after buying an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 48,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,432,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $1,236,060,000 after acquiring an additional 191,147 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 57,317 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,050,000 after purchasing an additional 4,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Allstate by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 195,159 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,625,000 after purchasing an additional 54,396 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

NYSE:ALL opened at $205.59 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.28. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91. The stock has a market cap of $54.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.80.

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.