Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Increases Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 115.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 94,914 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 50,894 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Progressive were worth $22,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 99.0% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Progressive by 270.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 11,833 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,003,000 after buying an additional 8,639 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Progressive by 6.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,069 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $5.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $282.79. 1,566,016 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,632,051. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $274.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.23. The firm has a market cap of $165.78 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders 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 payout ratio is 2.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $287.41.

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.