Apollon Wealth Management LLC Acquires 3,005 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 33.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,047 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,005 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Progressive by 143.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on PGR shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded up $1.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $216.93. 606,313 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,586,608. The firm has a market cap of $127.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $205.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.74. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $111.41 and a 52 week high of $217.77.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139. 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.