Procyon Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Procyon Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,053 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 21.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in Progressive by 75.3% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $379,139,000 after buying an additional 641,943 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $151,325,000 after acquiring an additional 594,330 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 206.8% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $222,207,000 after purchasing an additional 590,235 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,222,168 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.24.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $243.79 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $250.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.03. The company has a market capitalization of $142.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $166.92 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.91%.

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.