Legal & General Group Plc Has $908.48 Million Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,791,506 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 926,989 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.65% of Progressive worth $908,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% during 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. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $2.60 on Friday, hitting $275.78. 3,052,599 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,657,216. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $271.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $257.20. The company has a market cap of $161.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

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Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $142,324.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,983 shares in the company, valued at $969,024.07. This trade represents a 12.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.71.

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.