85,000 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Purchased by Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd

Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd purchased a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 85,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $20,367,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on PGR. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $287.65.

Progressive Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:PGR traded up $2.70 on Monday, hitting $288.73. The stock had a trading volume of 587,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,636,038. The stock has a market cap of $169.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $275.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $261.81. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm's 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 $66,616,766.16. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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.