The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock Position Raised by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 64.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,921 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 67.1% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 2,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 20.1% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,490,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 71.6% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 7,076 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Progressive by 541.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $274.07 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $262.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.19. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. 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 company has a market capitalization of $160.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 65,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,767,455. 0.34% of the stock is owned by 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.