1,985 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Bought by Fox Run Management L.L.C.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $476,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Progressive by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 90.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 7.0% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six research 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

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 value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 65,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,767,455. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $274.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $160.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $263.42 and its 200-day moving average is $255.37.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 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.