The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,117 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 850 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 109.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 143.6% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on PGR shares. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $209.12 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.41 and a fifty-two week high of $212.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.33. The company has a market cap of $122.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. Progressive’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

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.