Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 415,628 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2,262.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 415,628 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $103,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 21.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after purchasing an additional 641,943 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $151,325,000 after purchasing an additional 594,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 206.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $222,207,000 after purchasing an additional 590,235 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $239.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $242.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $166.92 and a 52 week high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.24.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company 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.