The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 394 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Progressive by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after purchasing an additional 315,411 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after buying an additional 170,618 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 7.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Progressive by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,022,507,000 after acquiring an additional 92,212 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total transaction of $1,964,096.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $3,876,384.69. This represents a 33.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,839 shares of company stock valued at $6,718,965. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 3.7 %

NYSE PGR opened at $251.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.14 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $253.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $236.78. The stock has a market cap of $147.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PGR. Barclays increased their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $270.69.

Progressive Company 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.