Norges Bank Invests $1.84 Billion in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 7,691,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,843,045,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 67.1% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 2,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 20.1% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 541.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Progressive by 638.4% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Associated Banc Corp acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,255 shares of company stock worth $16,877,471. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $272.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $159.74 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $264.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.49. 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 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

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 expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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