Advisory Services Network LLC Has $5.59 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Advisory Services Network LLC increased its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 30.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,339 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,501 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after buying an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after acquiring an additional 189,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,843,045,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Progressive by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,521,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,323,018,000 after purchasing an additional 153,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,239,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research report on Friday, April 4th. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.12.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 2.0 %

PGR opened at $260.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $152.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $269.90 and a 200-day moving average of $256.77.

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 return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS 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 paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Progressive 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.