Capital Market Strategies LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Capital Market Strategies LLC grew its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 28.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,665 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. Capital Market Strategies LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in Progressive in the third quarter worth about $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Sachetta LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 34.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Progressive in the third quarter worth $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.94.

Progressive Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of PGR traded down $1.31 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $240.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 609,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,706,473. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $251.55 and its 200-day moving average is $240.50. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $162.35 and a 52-week high of $270.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.51, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,981 shares of company stock valued at $5,816,178. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.