William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. Purchases Shares of 23,224 The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 23,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,708,000. Allstate comprises 2.4% of William B. Walkup & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ALL. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Allstate during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 70.9% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 33.9% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE ALL opened at $188.36 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.47. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $109.01 and a 1 year high of $193.97.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $1.28. The business had revenue of $15.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.04 billion. Allstate had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 24.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($4.42) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 15.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 81.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALL. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Allstate from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Allstate from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $213.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $199.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.76.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John E. Dugenske sold 36,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.38, for a total transaction of $6,959,916.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,236,922.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider John E. Dugenske sold 36,367 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.38, for a total transaction of $6,959,916.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,236,922.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth Brady sold 49,481 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.09, for a total transaction of $8,861,552.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,431,901.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 238,305 shares of company stock valued at $43,082,657. 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.