Rhumbline Advisers Increases Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,117,560 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,223 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.19% of Progressive worth $316,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,795,262,000 after buying an additional 583,376 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,498,363,000 after acquiring an additional 189,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,480,677,000 after purchasing an additional 710,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $4,248,922.70. The trade was a 23.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total transaction of $2,753,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 238,024 shares in the company, valued at $65,544,668.88. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 43,651 shares of company stock valued at $12,017,780. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of PGR stock traded down $1.37 on Tuesday, hitting $287.37. The stock had a trading volume of 2,896,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,647,772. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $276.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.82. The company has a market cap of $168.46 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend 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 is presently 2.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.59.

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.