Y.D. More Investments Ltd Increases Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 119.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 716 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 389 shares during the quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its holdings in Progressive by 1,650.0% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,935,250. This trade represents a 26.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $248.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $246.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.29. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $179.90 and a 12-month high of $270.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors 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 yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

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.