Wealthstar Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Wealthstar Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,740 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $250.64 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $245.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $180.72 and a twelve month high of $270.62. The company has a market capitalization of $146.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays dropped their price target on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

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.