Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 810,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 52,045 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $140,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 0.9% during the first quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 7,547 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the first quarter worth approximately $973,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Allstate by 4.6% in the first quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 437,894 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $75,760,000 after buying an additional 19,084 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the first quarter valued at approximately $137,000. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA grew its position in shares of Allstate by 4.0% during the first quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 153,860 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,619,000 after acquiring an additional 5,909 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALL traded up $0.46 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $170.04. 1,124,609 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,668,521. The company has a market cap of $44.73 billion, a PE ratio of -137.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $165.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.37. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $100.57 and a 12-month high of $176.93.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $1.95. Allstate had a positive return on equity of 2.67% and a negative net margin of 0.33%. The company had revenue of $14.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.36) earnings per share. Allstate’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 13.44 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -296.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $164.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Allstate from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Allstate from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Allstate from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of Allstate 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 owns 63,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,847,016.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,712,069.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.