Fisher Asset Management LLC Has $2.12 Million Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,864 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.59.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $281.84 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $191.00 and a 52 week 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $252.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $252.11. The company has a market cap of $165.11 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total value of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $14,102,075 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.