Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Purchases New Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. purchased a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 25,334 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,070,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Progressive by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $408,416,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Progressive by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,795,262,000 after acquiring an additional 583,376 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.0 %

PGR stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $265.11. 1,826,933 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,635,464. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $258.36. The company has a market capitalization of $155.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 269,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $75,462,306.04. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 43,749 shares of company stock valued at $11,786,613. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGR. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Progressive from $289.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $320.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.76.

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.