Davis R M Inc. Invests $208,000 in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Davis R M Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Progressive by 14.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,002,542,000 after buying an additional 2,666,449 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Progressive by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,935,652 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,378,951,000 after buying an additional 520,742 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $1,078,831,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Progressive by 2.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,982,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $833,410,000 after buying an additional 162,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Progressive by 2.9% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,641,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $785,814,000 after buying an additional 156,332 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR traded up $0.63 on Thursday, reaching $206.97. 237,600 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,546,099. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $121.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.34. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $217.77.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Progressive from $279.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Progressive from $244.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.19.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total value of $1,525,567.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 35,503 shares in the company, valued at $7,357,996.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total transaction of $1,525,567.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,503 shares in the company, valued at $7,357,996.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,825 shares of company stock worth $3,337,741 over the last quarter. Corporate 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.