Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 57,057 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 772,130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 57,057 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.13% of Progressive worth $185,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after buying an additional 315,411 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 1.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after acquiring an additional 170,618 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Progressive by 7.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after purchasing an additional 330,667 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE PGR opened at $262.02 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $182.23 and a one year high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $244.79 and its 200-day moving average is $246.64.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. TD Cowen increased their price target on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.71.

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.