Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 169,591 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Progressive were worth $40,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 16.5% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its stake in Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Monument Capital Management grew its holdings in Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Bank increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $14,102,075. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.59.

Progressive Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE PGR opened at $283.09 on Wednesday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $189.40 and a twelve month high of $287.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $165.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $251.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.90.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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