96,755 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Purchased by Fisher Funds Management LTD

Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 96,755 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $23,156,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Monument Capital Management raised its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during 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. Finally, Washington Trust Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $265.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $155.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $186.94 and a 12 month high of $270.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $246.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $249.12.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.12.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 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 $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were 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. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 over the last quarter. Corporate 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.