Xponance Inc. Purchases 3,156 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 128,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,156 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $30,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $16,644,000. Evoke Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 9,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,289,000 after buying an additional 1,061 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,708 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,722,000 after buying an additional 4,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc lifted its holdings in Progressive by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 3,003 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $291.69 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $259.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $254.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. 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 Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its 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 net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 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 transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.76.

Progressive 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.