Simon Quick Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,983 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 182 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth $36,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Progressive during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.65.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $239.13 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $169.57 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The company has a market capitalization of $140.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $249.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $243.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,938 shares of company stock worth $7,473,490 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Company 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.