MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Acquires 540 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 28.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,469 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Progressive were worth $699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $284.82 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $275.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. 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 Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its 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. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.70%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 23.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,651 shares of company stock worth $12,017,780 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.59.

About Progressive

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.