1,044 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Purchased by Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,044 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total transaction of $110,016.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,084.80. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,255 shares of company stock worth $16,877,471 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

Progressive stock opened at $279.13 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. 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 $163.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $265.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.82.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America reduced their price target on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

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.