LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Boosts Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 46.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,722 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,361 shares of company stock worth $11,302,675 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of PGR opened at $282.02 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $250.25 and its 200 day moving average is $251.23. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $186.94 and a fifty-two week high of $282.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.21 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.