KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 248,868 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $59,631,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Progressive by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 90.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Progressive by 7.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its position in Progressive by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,767,455 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:PGR traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $273.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,054,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,431,730. The company has a market capitalization of $160.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $262.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $255.19. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America cut their target price on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $281.06.

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.