The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $20,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harfst & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc. now owns 9,730 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,331,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. GenTrust LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 45,882 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,994,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impact Investors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $998,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Bank of America raised their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.59.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $273.13 on Thursday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $248.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $250.30. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $186.94 and a 52-week high of $280.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.