Everhart Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $379,139,000 after purchasing an additional 641,943 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after purchasing an additional 594,330 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,024,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $260,102,000 after purchasing an additional 518,262 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PGR. Bank of America increased their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $262.71 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $244.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.09. The company has a market cap of $153.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $186.94 and a 12-month high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

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.