Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. Acquires New Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,280,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $283.87 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $199.57 and a fifty-two week high of $287.49. The stock has a market cap of $166.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $258.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $253.97.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.76.

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.