Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 189,638 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.49% of Progressive worth $3,498,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,255 shares of company stock valued at $17,250,271 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $283.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.15. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

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.