Ironwood Investment Management LLC Has $1.45 Million Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Ironwood Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,029 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 377 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Progressive by 98.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 90.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Progressive by 2,262.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,990,000 after buying an additional 415,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its position in Progressive by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 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 $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.76.

Progressive Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $283.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $258.14 and its 200 day moving average is $253.97. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $199.57 and a 52 week high of $287.49. 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 issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

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.