The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 187,376 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,170 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $45,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also 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 purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 258,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 1.0 %

Progressive stock opened at $255.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $269.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $256.73.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.29.

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.