Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. Invests $87,000 in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $87,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,055 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,966 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 33.6% during the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,407 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 5.4% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 7,270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,845,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 98.0% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 11,510 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,921,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on PGR. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. 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. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.71.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $249.61 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $180.72 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The company has a market capitalization of $146.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $245.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $246.02. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.