4,112 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $655,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 14.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666,449 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $666,004,000 after buying an additional 1,154,591 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 102.9% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,131,601 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $296,932,000 after buying an additional 1,080,834 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 10.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,916,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $963,463,000 after buying an additional 655,706 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth about $88,528,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Down 1.4 %

PGR stock traded down $2.89 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $211.13. 1,322,982 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,600,293. The stock has a market cap of $123.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.41 and a fifty-two week high of $216.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $201.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.58.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $211.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.