Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 270.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,833 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,639 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's holdings in Progressive were worth $3,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after purchasing an additional 315,411 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after buying an additional 170,618 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,022,507,000 after buying an additional 92,212 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total transaction of $1,964,096.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,876,384.69. The trade was a 33.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,839 shares of company stock valued at $6,718,965 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of PGR stock traded up $9.04 on Friday, hitting $251.80. 3,286,188 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,484,099. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.38. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $253.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $236.56. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $149.14 and a one year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $270.69.

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.