Pathstone Holdings LLC Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 41.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 398,020 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 117,115 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC owned 0.07% of Progressive worth $95,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.65.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $283.38 on Wednesday. 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 $166.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $275.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $260.88.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The sale 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 Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total value of $110,016.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,370 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,084.80. This trade represents a 4.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.