Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 933,442 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 75,862 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $226,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 583,376 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,263,763,000 after acquiring an additional 315,411 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 67.6% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $479,391.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 26,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,546,174.02. This represents a 5.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, 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 have sold a total of 66,255 shares of company stock worth $16,877,471 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $272.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $159.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $264.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.49. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

Progressive 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.