Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 6,831 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 207,442 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,831 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Progressive were worth $49,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in Progressive by 1,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $276.12.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR traded down $1.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $265.99. The stock had a trading volume of 2,567,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,505,890. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $155.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $186.94 and a twelve month high of $270.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 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, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

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.