Golden State Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $119,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Bank of America raised their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James upgraded 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.71.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $250.64 on Monday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $180.72 and a twelve month high of $270.62. 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 company has a market capitalization of $146.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $245.24 and its 200 day moving average is $245.80.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.