Aquatic Capital Management LLC Acquires 6,701 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 19.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,282 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 6,701 shares during the quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $9,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the third quarter worth $2,566,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 2.2% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,054 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,044,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 55.0% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 99.0% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total value of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 269,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $75,462,306.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % 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, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 43,749 shares of company stock worth $11,972,513. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock traded up $5.50 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $281.81. 3,123,912 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,635,289. The stock has a market cap of $165.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $258.59.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Progressive 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.