The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) is Van Cleef Asset Management Inc’s Largest Position

Van Cleef Asset Management Inc lowered its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 790,454 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 14,762 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises approximately 20.8% of Van Cleef Asset Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Progressive were worth $189,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Progressive by 98.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 90.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 7.0% in the third 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 buying an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 415,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen upped their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.59.

Progressive Stock Up 2.0 %

PGR stock opened at $279.02 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $186.94 and a one year high of $280.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $249.41 and its 200 day moving average is $250.50. The firm has a market cap of $163.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,361 shares of company stock worth $11,302,675 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

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.