Conning Inc. Has $4.92 Million Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Conning Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,534 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 242 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 16.5% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its position in Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC increased its position in Progressive by 2.7% in the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Bank grew its position in shares of Progressive by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on PGR. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.71.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’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 $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $250.64 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $245.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.36. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $180.72 and a 1-year high of $270.62. The firm has a market cap of $146.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

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.