Quantbot Technologies LP Purchases 34,897 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 116.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 64,908 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,897 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for 0.6% of Quantbot Technologies LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Progressive were worth $15,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PGR. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 21.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after acquiring an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 36,819.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,195 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $136,145,000 after buying an additional 566,656 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 approximately $7,978,433. The trade was a 4.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.82.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $279.54 on Friday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $257.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.68. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $199.54 and a 1-year high of $287.49. The firm has a market cap of $163.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

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.