Nebula Research & Development LLC Trims Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Nebula Research & Development LLC trimmed its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 61.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,614 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 12,194 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ALL. StockNews.com cut Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:ALL opened at $193.02 on Friday. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91. The stock has a market cap of $51.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.56.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Allstate’s payout ratio is 23.54%.

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

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.