Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Increases Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 163.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,220 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,767,455. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Progressive Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:PGR traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $274.57. 2,911,344 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,428,583. 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 fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $160.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.37.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on PGR shares. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, HSBC lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $281.06.

About Progressive

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.