Algert Global LLC Has $3.47 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,492 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the quarter. Algert Global LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after acquiring an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Progressive by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,480,677,000 after purchasing an additional 710,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of PGR opened at $283.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $166.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $275.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.61. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. Analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. This represents a 23.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group upped their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.41.

Progressive 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.