Shepherd Financial Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Shepherd Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,319 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. StockNews.com cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price target on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $2,500,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,741 shares in the company, valued at $6,935,250. This represents a 26.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $250.64 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.36. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $180.72 and a twelve month high of $270.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

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.