Marshfield Associates Grows Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Marshfield Associates increased its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 873,246 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,025 shares during the period. Progressive makes up about 4.5% of Marshfield Associates' investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Marshfield Associates owned approximately 0.15% of Progressive worth $209,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank increased its position in shares of Progressive by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Monument Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $2,500,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,935,250. The trade was a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,749 shares of company stock valued at $11,786,613 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America upped their target price on Progressive from $289.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $320.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.76.

Progressive Stock Down 0.0 %

PGR opened at $265.11 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $155.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $274.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $258.36. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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