The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stake Lessened by Next Century Growth Investors LLC

Next Century Growth Investors LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,032 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,640 shares during the quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $2,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 165,178 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $39,561,000 after acquiring an additional 12,727 shares during the period. Petros Family Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $398,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 21,272 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,097,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Monetary Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 216.4% in the fourth quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 2,215 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coign Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $609,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Progressive Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of PGR stock traded down $2.60 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $275.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,368,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,639,868. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $272.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $257.43.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $288.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

About Progressive

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.