WINTON GROUP Ltd Invests $250,000 in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,043 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at $75,759,663.84. This trade represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Progressive Stock Down 6.3 %

NYSE PGR traded down $18.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $268.90. 1,523,376 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,593,637. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $268.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.73. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $157.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays upped their target price 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. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $280.29.

Progressive 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.