4,611 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Purchased by Geneva Partners LLC

Geneva Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,611 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $734,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Giverny Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.9% in the third quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 501,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $69,849,000 after buying an additional 14,022 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 155,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $21,651,000 after acquiring an additional 7,268 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 168,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,788,000 after purchasing an additional 4,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $295,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.88.

Progressive Trading Up 2.4 %

PGR traded up $4.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $214.69. 4,190,337 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,618,959. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $111.41 and a 12-month high of $215.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $199.92 and a 200 day moving average of $175.10.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

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.