FineMark National Bank & Trust Increases Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

FineMark National Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 69,842 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,360 shares during the period. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Progressive were worth $16,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,855 shares of company stock worth $16,767,455 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $274.07 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm has a market cap of $160.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $262.72 and a 200 day moving average of $255.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Finally, HSBC lowered 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, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

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.