Blue Trust Inc. Buys 2,222 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 38.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,222 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in Progressive in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGR. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.65.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,463,329.23. The trade was a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,506 shares of company stock worth $10,531,159 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $246.83 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $248.27 and a 200 day moving average of $243.79. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $175.50 and a 1 year high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.91%.

Progressive Company 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.