Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Increases Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 80.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 315,012 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 140,514 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.05% of Progressive worth $75,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 16.5% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank raised its holdings in Progressive by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its position in Progressive by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Monument Capital Management grew 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 worth $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,255 shares of company stock worth $17,250,271. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR traded up $5.55 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $286.78. The company had a trading volume of 3,830,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,596,582. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $267.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $256.52. The firm has a market cap of $168.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on PGR. Bank of America cut their target price on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. HSBC cut 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. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $281.06.

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.