3,915 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Bought by Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC

Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $893,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,584,067,000 after purchasing an additional 593,612 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Progressive by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,373,474,000 after purchasing an additional 78,374 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in Progressive by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,398,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,527 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Progressive by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,757,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $1,836,094,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $204.12 on Thursday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $189.20 and a 52 week high of $269.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $198.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.26.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.37 EPS. Progressive’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on PGR. Bank of America cut their price target on Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Barclays set a $247.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Argus raised Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.11.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.