The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stake Lifted by Achmea Investment Management B.V.

Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,949 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Monument Capital Management raised its holdings in Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Progressive by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors now owns 995 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $281.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:PGR traded up $4.47 on Friday, reaching $283.87. The stock had a trading volume of 2,223,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,388,837. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $258.14 and a 200 day moving average of $254.03. The stock has a market cap of $166.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $287.49.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.