Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Acquires Shares of 23,785 The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,785 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,699,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 16.5% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank lifted its position in Progressive by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its stake in Progressive by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monument Capital Management raised its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on PGR. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Progressive Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $272.49 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $264.03 and its 200-day moving average is $255.49. The firm has a market cap of $159.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’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 $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,255 shares of company stock valued at $16,877,471 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.