The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Holdings Raised by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,775 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $905,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Progressive by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 90.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 7.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Progressive by 2,262.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $103,990,000 after acquiring an additional 415,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents 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 worth $13,983,575. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised their target price on Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America upped their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report 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.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.12.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $265.99 on Monday. 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 market cap of $155.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $246.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $249.35. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $186.94 and a fifty-two week high of $270.79.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

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.