The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock Position Raised by Simplicity Solutions LLC

Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,607 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $840,885,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $802,968,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 14.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,002,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666,449 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,721,345 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $871,826,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 31.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $666,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,591 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Progressive from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Progressive from $265.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $202.00.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $203.90 on Monday. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $111.41 and a 1 year high of $212.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $197.15 and a 200-day moving average of $173.13. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $119.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,629 shares of company stock valued at $8,348,176. 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.