Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Boosts Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 85.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,953 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,901 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,361 shares of company stock worth $11,302,675 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PGR. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.59.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $282.02 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $186.94 and a twelve month high of $282.40. The company has a market cap of $165.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $250.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $251.11.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

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.