Chiron Investment Management LLC Acquires 3,385 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Chiron Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,579 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,385 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for 1.9% of Chiron Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Chiron Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,239,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085,833 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $408,416,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after buying an additional 583,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Progressive by 36,819.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,195 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $136,145,000 after buying an additional 566,656 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on PGR shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $288.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.71.

Progressive Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $275.78 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $271.85 and its 200 day moving average is $257.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. 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.