Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Acquires 55 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,790 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 103,583 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $24,819,000 after acquiring an additional 10,734 shares in the last quarter. Martel Wealth Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $479,000. CMH Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $278,000. Mechanics Bank Trust Department increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 2,039 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,512 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,184,000 after buying an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $243.79 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $249.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $242.95. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $166.92 and a 12-month high of $270.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $142.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.24.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,938 shares of company stock valued at $7,473,490 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.