Martel Wealth Advisors Inc Makes New $479,000 Investment in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Martel Wealth Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $243.79 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $166.92 and a one year high of $270.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $250.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $242.71.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,938 shares of company stock worth $7,473,490 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.24.

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.