The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Holdings Boosted by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.12% of Progressive worth $12,795,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE PGR traded up $0.57 on Tuesday, reaching $274.57. The company had a trading volume of 2,911,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,431,730. 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 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $262.72 and a 200-day moving average of $255.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

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Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 65,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,767,455. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $281.06.

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.