The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Boothbay Fund Management LLC

Boothbay Fund Management LLC grew its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 66.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,024 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 4,713 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,129,000 after buying an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,147 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 164.2% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 2,055 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 5,255 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,779,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 90.1% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 188,107 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $45,072,000 after buying an additional 89,145 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value of $1,305,919.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,922.70. This represents a 23.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total value of $2,799,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $287.41.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR traded up $5.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $282.79. 1,566,016 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,630,126. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $165.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $274.78 and a 200 day moving average of $259.15.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

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.