True North Advisors LLC Acquires 194 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

True North Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 23.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,014 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 80,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,225,000 after purchasing an additional 3,326 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,225,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Progressive by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors now owns 995 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 4,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp increased its stake in Progressive by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 5,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $239.58 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $175.50 and a 52-week high of $270.62. The company has a market cap of $140.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $248.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.14.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,506 shares of company stock valued at $10,531,159. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.65.

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.