17,500 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Bought by Premier Fund Managers Ltd

Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 17,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,194,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,255 shares of company stock worth $16,877,471 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $274.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $161.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $264.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $255.62. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

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.