The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Motley Fool Asset Management LLC

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,638 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,104 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $6,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Progressive by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Progressive by 2,262.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its position in Progressive by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,069,697 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $255,882,000 after purchasing an additional 249,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $35,253,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Down 1.0 %

PGR opened at $281.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $267.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $256.52. The stock has a market cap of $164.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,199,142.56. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,255 shares of company stock worth $17,250,271 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Progressive

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.