Choate Investment Advisors Has $13.10 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Choate Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 105.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,669 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 28,036 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors' holdings in Progressive were worth $13,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $281.76.

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Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $479,391.36. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 26,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,546,174.02. This trade represents a 5.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,495 shares of company stock worth $16,668,034 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock traded down $7.89 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $283.33. 1,887,911 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,681,415. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $259.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.36. The company has a market cap of $166.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. 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 one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

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.