Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 147,670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,900 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $35,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MONECO Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $905,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,582 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 11,511 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,758,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $23,156,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’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 value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,935,250. This represents a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.12.

Progressive Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $265.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $246.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.12. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $186.94 and a 52 week high of $270.79. The company has a market cap of $155.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Progressive 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.