Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Has $49.30 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. decreased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 205,731 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 46 shares during the period. Progressive makes up 0.8% of Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $49,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.76.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $283.87 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $166.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $287.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $258.14 and its 200-day moving average is $254.07.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

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.