NorthRock Partners LLC Raises Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

NorthRock Partners LLC grew its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 738.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,956 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,696 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $4,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. NDVR Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. NDVR Inc. now owns 1,810 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 80,052 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,126,000 after buying an additional 2,132 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,488 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,075,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 520,348 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $124,681,000 after buying an additional 61,956 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. 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 note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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 price objective on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $287.65.

Progressive Stock Up 1.7%

Progressive stock traded up $4.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $285.93. 2,779,536 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,641,525. The company has a market cap of $167.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. 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 of $275.35 and a 200-day moving average of $261.55.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. 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 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.