FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Grows Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,553 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Progressive were worth $612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 231,073 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,367,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 86,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,833,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Harfst & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc. now owns 9,730 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,331,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the period. GenTrust LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Cable Hill Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.59.

Progressive Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $273.13 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $186.94 and a one year high of $280.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $250.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is 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.