Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Has $2.31 Million Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lowered its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 59.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,636 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 14,033 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH's holdings in Progressive were worth $2,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,210 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 489 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 155.7% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,154 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 3,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in Progressive by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 280,488 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $67,208,000 after purchasing an additional 2,073 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating 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 note on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Progressive from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.24.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $3.65 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $277.35. 1,164,026 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,997,189. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $275.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.42. The company has a market cap of $162.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a PEG 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.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The business 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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. 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%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total value of $110,016.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,302,084.80. This trade represents a 4.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097. 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.