Wright Investors Service Inc. Acquires 1,718 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Wright Investors Service Inc. boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,749 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,718 shares during the period. Progressive comprises about 2.9% of Wright Investors Service Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $8,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on PGR. Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.59.

Progressive Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $1.30 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $280.87. The company had a trading volume of 1,100,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,643,752. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month 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 stock has a market cap of $164.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $264.11.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. On average, analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.70%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 $65,544,668.88. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,755 shares of company stock worth $10,367,074 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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.