The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $100.74 Million Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 420,447 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 9,709 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.07% of Progressive worth $100,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PGR. Barclays lifted their price objective on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $287.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total value of $2,685,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 248,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,616,766.16. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of Progressive 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE PGR traded up $5.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $282.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,566,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,630,125. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $274.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $258.93. 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 Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS 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 business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Research 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 paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

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.