Oxford Asset Management LLP Has $1.78 Million Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Oxford Asset Management LLP lifted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 215.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,415 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,062 shares during the period. Progressive makes up 0.9% of Oxford Asset Management LLP's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Oxford Asset Management LLP's holdings in Progressive were worth $1,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 248,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,616,766.16. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,749 shares of company stock worth $14,472,513. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of PGR traded up $6.79 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $276.37. The stock had a trading volume of 2,690,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,633,333. The firm has a market cap of $162.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $258.47.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $320.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. 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, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.41.

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.