Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Boosts Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2,033.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,793 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 22,678 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666,449 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Progressive by 31.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $666,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,591 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 102.9% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,131,601 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $296,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080,834 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth $88,528,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 279.2% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 811,381 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $129,237,000 after buying an additional 597,401 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $208.72. 2,150,779 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,992,636. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $204.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.61. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $111.41 and a 12-month high of $216.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. Progressive's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PGR shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $211.88.

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.