The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock Holdings Decreased by Empire Life Investments Inc.

Empire Life Investments Inc. lowered its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,179 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 3,410 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $7,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 114.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on PGR. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $275.88.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $5.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $269.71. The stock had a trading volume of 3,223,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,521,833. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $186.94 and a fifty-two week high of $270.79. The firm has a market cap of $158.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $246.11 and a 200-day moving average of $248.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

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.