Mechanics Bank Trust Department Has $489,000 Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department grew its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 79.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,039 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 901 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Progressive were worth $489,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $243.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $142.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $242.49. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $166.92 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,938 shares of company stock valued at $7,473,490 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC cut shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.24.

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.