The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) is Ghe LLC’s 6th Largest Position

Ghe LLC cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,415 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 973 shares during the period. Progressive makes up 2.7% of Ghe LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Ghe LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $6,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its position in Progressive by 1,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.12.

Progressive Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of PGR opened at $265.99 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $155.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $186.94 and a 52-week high of $270.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $246.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, 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 value of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 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.