The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stake Boosted by Waldron Private Wealth LLC

Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 21,414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 270 shares during the quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on PGR. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.71.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $246.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $144.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41. 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 Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $176.37 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $247.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $244.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 34.32%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend 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.