Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 32,034 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,431,389 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 32,034 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Progressive worth $342,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth 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. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. HSBC lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $281.06.

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Progressive Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $5.55 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $286.78. The stock had a trading volume of 3,830,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,596,582. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $267.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $256.52. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $168.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G 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.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,255 shares of company stock worth $17,250,271 over the last three months. Corporate 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.