The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Holdings Decreased by Waterloo Capital L.P.

Waterloo Capital L.P. lessened its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,323 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 384 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during 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 during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $234,044.98. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,463,329.23. This trade represents a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 10.4 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $257.27 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $269.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $150.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.29.

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.