Realta Investment Advisors Invests $501,000 in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Realta Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,068 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $501,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 21.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Progressive by 75.3% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after purchasing an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 29,701.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after purchasing an additional 594,330 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 102.3% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,024,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $260,102,000 after purchasing an additional 518,262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. HSBC downgraded shares of 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. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the company’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 $2,194,878.60. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $251.33 on Friday. 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 50 day moving average price of $245.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $180.68 and a 52 week high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 presently 2.78%.

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.