James Reed Financial Services Inc. Makes New $817,000 Investment in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

James Reed Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,408 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $817,000. Progressive comprises 0.9% of James Reed Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Progressive by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,263,763,000 after acquiring an additional 315,411 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 1.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after buying an additional 170,618 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the third 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 buying an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 21.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $284.95 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $187.32 and a 1-year high of $285.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $251.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.57.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,691,485.60. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive 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 directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $14,102,075 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six equities 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.59.

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.