Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Acquires 13,670 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 63.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,093 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,670 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Progressive were worth $8,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. The trade was a 23.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,749 shares of company stock worth $11,786,613 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.76.

Progressive Trading Up 0.1 %

Progressive stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $265.19. 1,820,574 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,635,649. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $274.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $258.02.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid 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 payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

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.