The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by Spire Wealth Management

Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 42.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,756 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,492 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management's holdings in Progressive were worth $2,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 90.9% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in Progressive by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,531,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the third 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 worth $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $103,990,000 after buying an additional 415,628 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of several research reports. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. 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. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $275.71.

Progressive Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of PGR stock traded up $0.99 on Wednesday, hitting $248.99. The stock had a trading volume of 1,508,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,567,676. The company's 50 day moving average price is $246.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.29. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $179.90 and a 1 year high of $270.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (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%. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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.