Level Four Advisory Services LLC Acquires 151 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,624 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $279.13 on Monday. 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 Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $265.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $255.91.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total transaction of $110,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,084.80. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,255 shares of company stock valued at $14,490,871 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.