Employees Retirement System of Texas Grows Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 112.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,541 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 18,250 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Progressive were worth $8,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total value of $2,753,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 238,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,544,668.88. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,651 shares of company stock worth $12,017,780 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price target on shares of Progressive and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.59.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR traded up $7.52 on Friday, reaching $284.82. The company had a trading volume of 5,075,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,981,315. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.97 billion, a PE ratio of 19.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $275.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.38.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.