NBC Securities Inc. Acquires 1,684 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 168,400.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,685 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,684 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,935 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,375 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total transaction of $110,016.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,370 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,084.80. This represents a 4.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total value of $2,753,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 238,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,544,668.88. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,755 shares of company stock worth $10,367,074. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Progressive stock traded down $1.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $279.19. 2,442,200 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,654,031. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $276.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $264.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

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 business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price target on Progressive and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.