1,547 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Acquired by Allianz SE

Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,547 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $371,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PGR. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays lifted 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. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’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 $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,255 shares of company stock worth $14,490,871. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $279.13 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $265.32 and a 200-day moving average of $255.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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