Vivid Wealth Management LLC Invests $2.14 Million in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Vivid Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,944 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,143,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $512,000. Spinnaker Trust bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $510,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Progressive by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,410,527 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $337,976,000 after purchasing an additional 200,787 shares during the period. Finally, Vicus Capital bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $333,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock traded up $5.78 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $269.71. 3,223,067 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,521,833. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $246.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $248.36. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $186.94 and a one year high of $270.79. 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 stock has a market cap of $158.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $275.88.

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.