Forbes J M & Co. LLP Raises Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Forbes J M & Co. LLP raised its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings in Progressive were worth $11,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 114.1% in the third 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. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Progressive by 1,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.3 %

Progressive stock opened at $250.64 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $180.72 and a one year high of $270.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $245.24 and its 200 day moving average is $245.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Bank of America upped their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’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 $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.