Phillips Financial Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Phillips Financial Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,249 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in Progressive by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after buying an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 36,819.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,195 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $136,145,000 after acquiring an additional 566,656 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $277.52 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $197.77 and a 52-week high of $287.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $256.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.50. The company has a market capitalization of $162.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

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 net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. The trade was a 23.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.59.

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.