The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock Holdings Reduced by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank decreased its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,992 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,216 shares during the period. Commerce Bank's holdings in Progressive were worth $8,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after buying an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after acquiring an additional 189,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,843,045,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,521,545 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,323,018,000 after purchasing an additional 153,044 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,327,453 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,276,510,000 after purchasing an additional 322,652 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. The trade was a 23.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,749 shares of company stock worth $11,786,613 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $265.19. 1,820,461 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,635,644. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $274.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $258.02. The company has a market cap of $155.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, 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 quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. 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 results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. 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 research note on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.76.

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.