Sawyer & Company Inc Trims Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Sawyer & Company Inc cut its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,823 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 425 shares during the quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in Allstate were worth $2,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,320 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,405 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Busey Trust CO increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Busey Trust CO now owns 2,633 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE ALL opened at $170.85 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $158.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.72. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $100.57 and a 12 month high of $171.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $1.95. Allstate had a negative net margin of 0.33% and a positive return on equity of 2.67%. The company had revenue of $14.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.36) earnings per share. Allstate’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 1st. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is -296.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allstate news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $637,880.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares in the company, valued at $1,712,069.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ALL shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $112.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $171.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Allstate in a research note on Thursday, December 28th. They set a “hold” rating and a $145.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Allstate from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.75.

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.