The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by SMART Wealth LLC

SMART Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 110.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,450 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the period. SMART Wealth LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Progressive by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $379,139,000 after purchasing an additional 641,943 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 29,701.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $151,325,000 after buying an additional 594,330 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Progressive by 102.3% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,024,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,102,000 after buying an additional 518,262 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value 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. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE PGR opened at $251.33 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $180.68 and a 52 week high of $270.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $245.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $245.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upped their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.