The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Magnetar Financial LLC

Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 50.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,517 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,866 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $5,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after purchasing an additional 315,411 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,669,204,000 after acquiring an additional 170,618 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the 3rd 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 valued at $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 65,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,767,455 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.4 %

PGR traded up $1.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $274.07. 2,553,247 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,433,886. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $262.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.19. The firm has a market cap of $160.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend 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 is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 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.