The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,786,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 52,518 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $428,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 112.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 643 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Progressive by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 158,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,152,000 after acquiring an additional 2,876 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 98,962 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,113,000 after acquiring an additional 10,231 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total transaction of $2,759,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 258,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $479,391.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 26,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,546,174.02. This represents a 5.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $257.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $150.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $269.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.74.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.29.

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.