OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd Has $2.37 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd lessened its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 61.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 16,079 shares during the period. Progressive comprises approximately 3.2% of OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.76.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $291.69 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $259.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.36. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. 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 $170.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total transaction of $344,787.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 28,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,978,433. This trade represents a 4.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,248,922.70. This represents a 23.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.