Czech National Bank Acquires 7,536 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 134,552 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 7,536 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in Progressive were worth $38,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after acquiring an additional 583,376 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,480,677,000 after purchasing an additional 710,684 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Progressive by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total transaction of $2,753,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 238,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,544,668.88. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $479,391.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 26,697 shares in the company, valued at $7,546,174.02. This trade represents a 5.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 37,755 shares of company stock worth $10,367,074. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $1.34 during trading on Thursday, reaching $280.83. 991,013 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,982,694. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $276.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $264.11. 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 firm has a market cap of $164.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price target on Progressive and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.59.

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.