Ethic Inc. Purchases 4,687 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Ethic Inc. raised its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,906 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,687 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $17,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,922.70. This represents a 23.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total value of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at $75,462,306.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $284.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $275.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.03. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

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.