The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,410,527 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 200,787 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises about 1.6% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned 0.24% of Progressive worth $337,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, 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. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.71.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $262.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $182.23 and a twelve month high of $270.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $244.79 and a 200-day moving average of $246.64.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

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.