The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,272 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $5,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in 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 worth $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,849,000 after buying an additional 3,534 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Progressive by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,069,697 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $255,882,000 after buying an additional 249,958 shares during the period. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,253,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $275.82. The company had a trading volume of 3,068,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,173,041. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $272.94 and a 200-day moving average of $257.55. The company has a market capitalization of $161.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,463,329.23. This trade represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $969,024.07. This trade represents a 12.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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 report on Thursday, December 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $287.00 in a report on Friday, April 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.71.

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.