The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by Mediolanum International Funds Ltd

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 24.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 126,907 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,836 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $30,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Progressive by 114.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.29.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,506 shares of company stock worth $13,031,159. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $249.20 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $247.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $244.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $176.37 and a 12-month high of $270.62. The firm has a market cap of $145.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 34.32% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.03 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Progressive 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.