Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Purchases 2,208 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,548 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,208 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in Progressive by 75.3% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after buying an additional 641,943 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $151,325,000 after buying an additional 594,330 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Progressive by 102.3% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,024,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $260,102,000 after buying an additional 518,262 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.2 %

PGR stock opened at $262.71 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $244.97 and a 200-day moving average of $247.54. 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 cap of $153.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $186.94 and a twelve month high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

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.