Cassia Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 2,450 The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Cassia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,450 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $587,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $248.13 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $246.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $245.09. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $179.90 and a 52-week high of $270.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

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.