Allianz SE Invests $371,000 in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Allianz SE bought a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,547 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $371,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in Progressive by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank raised its holdings in Progressive by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Monument Capital Management increased its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the fourth 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 during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock traded down $29.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $257.27. 7,337,044 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,615,813. 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 Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $269.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $256.74.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS 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, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $234,044.98. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,463,329.23. The trade was a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $280.29.

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.