The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 64.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,921 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after buying an additional 315,411 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,669,204,000 after buying an additional 170,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,239,143,000 after buying an additional 2,085,833 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on PGR. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. 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, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.06.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $274.07 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $262.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $255.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS 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%. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,855 shares of company stock worth $16,767,455 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company Profile

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.