State of Wyoming Buys 3,044 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 195.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,044 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $285.93 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $275.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $261.68. 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 firm has a market cap of $167.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,462,306.04. The trade was a 3.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.