Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Acquires New Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. acquired a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 873 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $987,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,610 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,194,000 after acquiring an additional 727 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its position in Progressive by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 8,560 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,770,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.8% during the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $859,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 16.3% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 61,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,784,000 after acquiring an additional 8,662 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $242.72 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $149.14 and a 12-month high of $260.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $250.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.79.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.91%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,475,967. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,475,967. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,843 shares of company stock valued at $18,674,912. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PGR. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $263.19.

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.