1,044 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Purchased by Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,044 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of PGR opened at $279.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $163.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $265.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $255.82. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 66,255 shares of company stock worth $16,877,471. 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.