Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Has $2.31 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lowered its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 59.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,636 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 14,033 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH's holdings in Progressive were worth $2,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $118,434,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of Progressive by 112.0% during the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 34,541 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $8,276,000 after purchasing an additional 18,250 shares in the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 44.3% during the 4th quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,606 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $359,000. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,917 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,418,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,248,922.70. This trade represents a 23.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 248,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $66,616,766.16. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,651 shares of company stock valued at $12,017,780 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.59.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock traded up $7.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $284.82. The company had a trading volume of 5,075,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,656,429. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. 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 company has a market cap of $166.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $275.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.53.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid 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 of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.