Avanza Fonder AB Acquires Shares of 47,876 The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 47,876 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,472,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Progressive in the third quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,222,168. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PGR. Raymond James upgraded shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. HSBC lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $275.24.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock traded down $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $243.79. 1,967,879 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,000,825. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $166.92 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $250.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.91%.

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.