Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,095 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $502,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after purchasing an additional 315,411 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 13.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after acquiring an additional 170,618 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after acquiring an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.59.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $277.33 on Wednesday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $195.57 and a twelve month high of $287.49. 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 50-day simple moving average of $255.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total transaction of $344,787.00. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 28,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,978,433. This trade represents a 4.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Progressive

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.