MRA Advisory Group Has $579,000 Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

MRA Advisory Group boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the quarter. MRA Advisory Group’s holdings in Progressive were worth $579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PGR. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.24.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.1 %

PGR opened at $235.84 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $251.23 and a 200 day moving average of $241.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $166.92 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The company has a market cap of $138.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

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.