The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,130 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 1,369 shares during the quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC's holdings in Progressive were worth $2,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $192,000. HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 672 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 127,016 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $30,434,000 after buying an additional 7,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $287.65.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at $75,462,306.04. The trade was a 3.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock traded up $2.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $282.41. The company had a trading volume of 253,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,622,387. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $275.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $165.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current 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 given 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 presently 2.70%.

Progressive Company 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.