Park Avenue Securities LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 34.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,364 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,503 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $6,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PGR. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 raised its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position 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 valued at $2,669,204,000 after buying an additional 170,618 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.0% in 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, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Progressive by 1.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,022,507,000 after acquiring an additional 92,212 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 1.3 %

Progressive stock traded up $3.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $245.57. 1,897,560 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,601,546. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $166.92 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $143.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $250.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.01.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of 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 sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America raised their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $275.24.

Progressive Company 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.