Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires 566,656 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 36,819.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 568,195 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 566,656 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $136,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 16.5% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Washington Trust Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $273.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $248.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.30. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $186.94 and a fifty-two week high of $280.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.59.

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.