2,034 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Bought by Banco BTG Pactual S.A.

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,034 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $274.57 on Wednesday. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $263.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $255.37. The firm has a market cap of $160.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 65,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,767,455. 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.