Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 34,462 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 641,190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,462 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $153,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Progressive by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 90.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised their price target on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,255 shares of company stock worth $16,877,471. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $274.73 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $264.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $255.62. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.