The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Ossiam

Ossiam boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 24.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,730 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,832 shares during the quarter. Ossiam's holdings in Progressive were worth $4,728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,843,045,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Progressive by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Progressive by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,521,545 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,323,018,000 after buying an additional 153,044 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,935,250. This trade represents a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,749 shares of company stock valued at $11,786,613 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $289.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.76.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $265.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,820,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,635,649. The stock has a market cap of $155.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $258.02.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

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.