GAM Holding AG Lowers Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

GAM Holding AG decreased its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,629 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,189 shares during the period. GAM Holding AG's holdings in Progressive were worth $4,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $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 fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owns 292,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of PGR stock traded down $1.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $265.99. 2,567,348 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,505,890. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $246.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $248.87. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $186.94 and a 12-month high of $270.79. The stock has a market cap of $155.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.5 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $276.12.

Progressive Company 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.