Invesco Ltd. Purchases 153,044 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,521,545 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 153,044 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.94% of Progressive worth $1,323,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 158,224 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $40,152,000 after buying an additional 2,876 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,444 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,186 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,854,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total transaction of $2,759,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,787 shares in the company, valued at $8,463,329.23. This trade represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com cut Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research note on Friday, April 4th. 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 research note on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $288.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.71.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded up $2.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $275.78. 3,052,599 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,657,216. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $161.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $271.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $257.20. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. 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 (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

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.