Wealthstar Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Wealthstar Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,740 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE PGR opened at $250.64 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $245.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.80. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $180.72 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $146.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PGR. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Barclays cut their price target on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.71.

About Progressive

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.