Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Sells 46 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 205,731 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 46 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up 0.8% of Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $49,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PGR. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value of $1,305,919.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. The trade was a 23.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the 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 $2,194,878.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

PGR stock opened at $283.87 on Monday. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $258.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $254.07. The firm has a market cap of $166.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $287.49.

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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

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.