The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Lido Advisors LLC

Lido Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 127.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,466 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,168 shares during the quarter. Lido Advisors LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $5,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,795,262,000 after buying an additional 583,376 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,480,677,000 after purchasing an additional 710,684 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $276.37 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $258.59. The company has a market capitalization of $162.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total value of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at $75,462,306.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders sold 43,749 shares of company stock valued at $11,972,513. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on PGR shares. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 boosted their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $287.41.

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.

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