Merit Financial Group LLC Makes New $259,000 Investment in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,847 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 7.3% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 92,608 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,317,000 after purchasing an additional 6,330 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in Allstate during the third quarter worth about $444,000. Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in Allstate by 17.9% in the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 4,064 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the third quarter worth about $2,198,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Allstate by 6.4% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 67,073 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,473,000 after purchasing an additional 4,055 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $171.46 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $100.57 and a 1 year high of $177.37. The firm has a market cap of $45.25 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.51.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $5.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $1.02. The firm had revenue of $15.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.76 billion. Allstate had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 14.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.30) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 81.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ALL. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Allstate from $164.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Raymond James increased their target price on Allstate from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

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

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.