Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 42,496 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 351,455 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,496 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Progressive were worth $84,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Progressive by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 641,190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $153,636,000 after acquiring an additional 34,462 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,843,045,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,699,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Progressive by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 4,120 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $987,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 35,983 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,622,000 after buying an additional 8,609 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $279.13 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $265.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $255.86. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total transaction of $110,016.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,370 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,084.80. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,255 shares of company stock valued at $16,877,471. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.