The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Alaska Permanent Fund Corp

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lifted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 7,429.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,589 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,196 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PGR. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $211.88.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock traded down $2.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $209.91. The company had a trading volume of 202,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,588,889. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.41 and a fifty-two week high of $216.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $122.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.83.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. Progressive’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

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.