14,150 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Bought by Rational Advisors LLC

Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,150 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,390,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.7 %

Progressive stock traded down $1.79 during trading on Thursday, reaching $267.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,933,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,504,013. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $186.94 and a 52-week high of $270.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $246.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.36. 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 stock has a market cap of $156.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, HSBC cut Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $276.12.

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.