HB Wealth Management LLC Acquires 3,281 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,578 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,281 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in Progressive by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,432 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,846 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 21,846 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,235,000 after purchasing an additional 3,637 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 3,565 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $854,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 3,073 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $243.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $166.92 and a 52-week high of $270.62. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $250.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.27.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.91%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,222,168. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on PGR. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.24.

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.