The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,741 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Citizens & Northern Corp acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 9,038.5% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 241,714 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $57,917,000 after acquiring an additional 239,069 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Progressive by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 337,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $80,950,000 after purchasing an additional 22,885 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Progressive by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 93,237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $22,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,879 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its position in Progressive by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,645,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 quarter, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PGR. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.12.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $267.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $186.94 and a 1 year high of $270.79. The company has a market capitalization of $156.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $246.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $248.49.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.