Sapient Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 1,876 The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 1,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 213.6% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 78,764 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,546,000 after buying an additional 53,651 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 182.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 348 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,730 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $913,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $329,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $157,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $203.90 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $197.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.13. The company has a market cap of $119.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $111.41 and a 1 year high of $212.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 10.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 5,939 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total transaction of $1,005,116.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 465,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,821,329.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 5,939 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $1,005,116.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 465,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,821,329.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 44,629 shares of company stock valued at $8,348,176. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HSBC boosted their price target on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $202.00.

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.