NEOS Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 31.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,983 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,609 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $8,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $272.49 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $264.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $255.49. 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 Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm has a market cap of $159.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.