J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Reduces Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG decreased its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,009 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,521 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Allstate were worth $2,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALL. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in Allstate by 22.8% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 104.2% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 5,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the third quarter worth approximately $2,836,000. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in Allstate by 5.3% during the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,776 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Allstate by 534.3% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,530 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,359,000 after acquiring an additional 28,244 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

NYSE:ALL opened at $186.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.39. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Equities analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ALL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.27.

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.