Whittier Trust Co. Buys 38,571 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 888.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,914 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,571 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $10,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of 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 target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 65,495 shares of company stock worth $16,668,034. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of PGR opened at $274.52 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $261.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.84. The company has a market cap of $160.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given 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 is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 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.