MetLife Investment Management LLC Acquires 2,045 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176,761 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,045 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $42,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 3,000.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on PGR shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.76.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $265.19. 1,820,574 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,635,649. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $274.04 and a 200 day moving average of $258.02. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $155.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The business 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%. On average, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $2,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,935,250. The trade was a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. This trade represents a 23.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 43,749 shares of company stock valued at $11,786,613. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.