Western Financial Corp CA Acquires 402 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Western Financial Corp CA raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Western Financial Corp CA’s holdings in Progressive were worth $752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. State Street Corp raised its stake in Progressive by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after buying an additional 315,411 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd 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. FMR LLC grew its position in Progressive by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after purchasing an additional 170,618 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after purchasing an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 21.6% in the third 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 during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.71.

Progressive Trading Down 1.0 %

Progressive stock opened at $246.78 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $176.37 and a 12-month high of $270.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $247.01 and a 200 day moving average of $244.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 34.32%. As a group, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last 90 days. 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.