The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stake Boosted by Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 107.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,105 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,165 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group grew its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the first quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 3.6% during the first quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $479,391.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 26,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,546,174.02. This trade represents a 5.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,755 shares of company stock valued at $10,367,074. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays upped their price target on 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 lifted their price objective on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.59.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of PGR traded down $1.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $279.19. 2,442,200 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,650,455. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $264.27. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $163.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released 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. 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.