QRG Capital Management Inc. Buys 53,095 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 133.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 92,962 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,095 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $22,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $273.13 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $160.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. 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 Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $186.94 and a 1 year high of $280.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $248.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced 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 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders 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 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.59.

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.