PDS Planning Inc Buys 325 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,003 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Progressive were worth $720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 1ST Source Bank boosted its holdings in Progressive by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 1,256 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,562 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,010,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 10,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,487,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust co boosted its holdings in Progressive by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 12,299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,947,000 after acquiring an additional 2,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 84.0% in the fourth quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 1,954 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value of $1,305,919.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. This represents a 23.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. HSBC downgraded 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. StockNews.com downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.76.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $291.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $259.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $254.36. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 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.