The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stake Raised by Giverny Capital Inc.

Giverny Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 545,856 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,163 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for about 4.8% of Giverny Capital Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Giverny Capital Inc. owned about 0.09% of Progressive worth $130,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 68.0% during the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,926 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after buying an additional 1,589 shares during the last quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $215,000. Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $1,413,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of PGR opened at $275.78 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $271.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $257.20. The stock has a market cap of $161.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $142,324.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $969,024.07. This trade represents a 12.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.