The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by Secure Asset Management LLC

Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 89.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,546 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,142 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $1,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total transaction of $2,759,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares in the company, valued at $71,199,142.56. The trade was a 3.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the business'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 value of $110,016.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,084.80. This represents a 4.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 37,755 shares of company stock worth $10,367,074. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.59.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock traded down $2.37 on Thursday, hitting $279.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,520,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,651,285. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $276.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $264.11. The company has a market capitalization of $164.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company 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 was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.