Sierra Ocean LLC Buys Shares of 305 The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 305 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 shares of 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 worth $379,139,000 after buying an additional 641,943 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 594,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 102.3% in 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 buying an additional 518,262 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $262.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $153.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $247.54. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $186.94 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

About Progressive

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.