Consolidated Planning Corp Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Consolidated Planning Corp grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,305 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. Consolidated Planning Corp’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 75.3% during the third 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 buying an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 102.3% during 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 period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 3,982 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.4 %

PGR opened at $256.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 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 12-month low of $180.72 and a 12-month high of $270.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $244.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $246.57.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

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.