The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by Equitable Trust Co.

Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Washington Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Progressive by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.71.

Progressive Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $257.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $244.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.28. The company has a market cap of $151.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. 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 Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $180.72 and a 1 year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value 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 approximately $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.