Global Financial Private Client LLC Acquires 263 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 398.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 329 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Global Financial Private Client LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $93,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PGR. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 3.7% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 5,301 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,500,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 39,285.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $862,059,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038,303 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in Progressive by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 1,855 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,212,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Progressive by 68.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,328 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total value of $2,753,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 238,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,544,668.88. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value of $1,305,919.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 43,651 shares of company stock valued at $12,017,780. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.59.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $284.82 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $275.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $263.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its 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. 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 analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

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.