Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Purchases 1,346 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,820 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,346 shares during the quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Progressive by 21.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after acquiring an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position 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 worth $379,139,000 after acquiring an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Progressive by 36,819.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,195 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $136,145,000 after acquiring an additional 566,656 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

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 value of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $14,102,075 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $279.77 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $194.49 and a fifty-two week high of $287.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $254.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.70. The company has a market capitalization of $164.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America upped their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.59.

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.