Virtu Financial LLC Invests $2.57 Million in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 10,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,566,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew 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 acquiring an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $151,325,000 after purchasing an additional 594,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 206.8% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $222,207,000 after purchasing an additional 590,235 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted 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. TD Cowen increased their price target on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.69.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $242.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $142.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $254.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $236.18. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $149.14 and a one year high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. Equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $775,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,334 shares in the company, valued at $7,626,840. The trade was a 9.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total transaction of $1,964,096.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,876,384.69. The trade was a 33.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,839 shares of company stock worth $6,718,965 in the last ninety 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.