KBC Group NV Has $105.26 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 439,305 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,126 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Progressive were worth $105,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 90.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 84.3% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,531,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management raised its position in shares of Progressive by 9.5% in the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during 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 worth $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $238.58 on Monday. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $175.50 and a one year high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $139.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $243.55.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,463,329.23. The trade was a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,506 shares of company stock valued at $10,531,159 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.65.

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.