First Trust Advisors LP Increases Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 372.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 363,467 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 286,468 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.06% of Progressive worth $87,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the third quarter valued at $2,566,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Progressive by 2.2% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,054 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,044,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 55.0% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 99.0% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Progressive from $289.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.76.

Progressive Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE PGR traded up $0.16 on Thursday, hitting $265.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,820,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,635,659. The firm has a market cap of $155.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $274.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $258.15. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,500,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,935,250. This represents a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,749 shares of company stock worth $11,786,613 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.