The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) is NZS Capital LLC's 5th Largest Position

NZS Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 400,351 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 14,366 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up approximately 4.1% of NZS Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. NZS Capital LLC owned about 0.07% of Progressive worth $95,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Progressive Stock Up 2.5 %

NYSE PGR traded up $6.79 on Tuesday, hitting $276.37. 2,690,518 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,633,336. The company has a market cap of $162.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $274.29 and a 200-day moving average of $258.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,749 shares of company stock worth $14,472,513. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Progressive from $320.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $287.41.

Progressive 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.