Vise Technologies Inc. Acquires 3,841 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 133.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,715 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,841 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,498,363,000 after buying an additional 189,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Progressive by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,480,677,000 after buying an additional 710,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,547,677 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America raised 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. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.24.

Progressive Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $1.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $278.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,468,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,648,477. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $263.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value 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 represents a 23.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 248,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $66,616,766.16. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,384 shares of company stock worth $11,711,495 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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.