The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stake Lifted by Deutsche Bank AG

Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,447,442 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 337,146 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for about 0.5% of Deutsche Bank AG’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.93% of Progressive worth $1,305,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,534 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its position in shares of Progressive by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 238,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $57,132,000 after acquiring an additional 68,589 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 100.3% in the 4th quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp boosted its stake in Progressive by 295.1% in the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,102 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.65.

Progressive Stock Up 1.0 %

Progressive stock opened at $286.50 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $167.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $275.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.80.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total transaction of $110,016.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,370 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,084.80. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 in the last quarter. 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.