The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by NorthRock Partners LLC

NorthRock Partners LLC increased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 738.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,956 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,696 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.65.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $283.38 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $275.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $260.88. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $166.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.70%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. This represents a 23.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 248,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,616,766.16. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097. 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.