KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires New Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 248,868 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $59,631,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Progressive by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 90.9% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 7.0% during the 3rd 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 worth $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Progressive by 2,262.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,990,000 after acquiring an additional 415,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $273.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $160.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.99. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,495 shares of company stock worth $16,668,034 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by 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.