Vise Technologies Inc. Buys 3,841 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 133.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,715 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,841 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total value of $110,016.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,084.80. The trade was a 4.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,384 shares of company stock valued at $11,711,495. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.1%

PGR opened at $277.33 on Friday. 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 $162.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $262.86.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS 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%. Analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 target price on shares of Progressive and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.24.

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.