RiverPark Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 183 The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

RiverPark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $38,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Balentine LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 22,162 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,530,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 7,443 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.2% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,053 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in shares of Progressive by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,438 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 0.8% in the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 8,560 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,770,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total transaction of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 312,958 shares in the company, valued at $63,978,003.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,518 shares of company stock worth $7,159,674 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:PGR traded up $1.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $210.71. 441,940 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,556,852. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $209.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $111.41 and a 12-month high of $217.77.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $230.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $216.81.

Progressive Company 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.