R Squared Ltd Takes Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,880 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $690,000. Progressive makes up 0.7% of R Squared Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $244.86 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $248.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $244.03. The firm has a market cap of $143.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. 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 Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $175.50 and a 1 year high of $270.62.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,506 shares of company stock valued at $10,531,159 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.