The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Waldron Private Wealth LLC

Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.3% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,892 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Progressive by 1.8% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 68,273 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,181,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 5.5% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive 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 $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $246.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $176.37 and a one year high of $270.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $247.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $244.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 34.32% and a net margin of 11.25%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.03 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

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.