The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock Holdings Lifted by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 915,643 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 1.02% of Progressive worth $1,433,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.24.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $288.11 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G 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 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's fifty day simple moving average is $275.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $262.13.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. This trade represents a 23.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.