Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 259,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $64,063,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.0% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 27,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,611 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.8%

PGR stock opened at $203.94 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $222.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.00. The company has a market capitalization of $119.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.34. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $198.50 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total value of $302,131.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 26,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,924,379.20. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 9,034 shares of company stock valued at $2,047,481 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. HSBC set a $259.00 price objective on shares of Progressive and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $227.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $257.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $259.39.

Progressive Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.