Bank of Stockton Has $2.29 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Bank of Stockton cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,536 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 89 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up approximately 0.7% of Bank of Stockton’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 98.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 90.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the third 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 buying an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $103,990,000 after buying an additional 415,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after buying an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $267.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $156.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $246.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $248.49. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $186.94 and a 52 week high of $270.79.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,741 shares in the company, valued at $6,935,250. This trade represents a 26.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.12.

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.