GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases Shares of 1,761 The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,761 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Allstate by 18.2% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,363 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Allstate by 171.1% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 930 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the third quarter valued at about $202,000. CX Institutional boosted its stake in Allstate by 13.8% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 4,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Allstate by 46.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 45,717 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,093,000 after acquiring an additional 14,601 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Allstate news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $637,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,712,069.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Allstate news, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total transaction of $5,276,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 63,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,847,016.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $637,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,712,069.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $172.25 on Friday. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $100.57 and a 52-week high of $176.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $164.92 and a 200-day moving average of $148.75. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.36) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 13.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.92 dividend. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is -296.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Allstate from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $166.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Allstate in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $193.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Allstate currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.71.

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.