Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft Reduces Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,729 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 868 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s holdings in Progressive were worth $6,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,506 shares of company stock worth $10,531,159. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $246.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $144.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $244.25. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $175.50 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.65.

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.