Cooper Financial Group Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Cooper Financial Group raised its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 304 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 13.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $379,139,000 after buying an additional 641,943 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $151,325,000 after buying an additional 594,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 206.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $222,207,000 after acquiring an additional 590,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,222,168 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE PGR opened at $235.84 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $251.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $241.78. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $166.92 and a one year high of $270.62. The company has a market capitalization of $138.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.24.

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.