Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. Has $91.33 Million Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. trimmed its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 381,167 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,786 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for about 4.5% of Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $91,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.59.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $282.02 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $165.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $186.94 and a 52 week high of $282.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $250.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.23.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted 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 return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the 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 $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,361 shares of company stock worth $11,302,675 over the last ninety days. 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.