The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 207,442 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,831 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Progressive were worth $49,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased 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 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.88.

Progressive Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $269.71 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $186.94 and a fifty-two week high of $270.79. 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 company has a market cap of $158.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $246.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $248.36.

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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

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.