California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 35,954 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,491,193 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 35,954 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.43% of Progressive worth $596,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Progressive by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 90.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,849,000 after buying an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Progressive by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,069,697 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $255,882,000 after buying an additional 249,958 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 268,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. This trade represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business'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 $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 approximately $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,255 shares of company stock worth $17,250,271 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of PGR traded up $6.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $287.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,525,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,587,860. The stock's 50 day moving average is $267.83 and its 200 day moving average is $256.52. The firm has a market cap of $168.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, 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. Six research 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.