Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Has $592,000 Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,470 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays increased their target price on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $274.07 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $262.72 and its 200-day moving average is $255.19. The company has a market cap of $160.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 65,855 shares of company stock worth $16,767,455. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.