Carnegie Investment Counsel Purchases 2,073 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 280,488 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for approximately 1.9% of Carnegie Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Progressive were worth $67,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in Progressive by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $379,139,000 after acquiring an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 29,701.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $151,325,000 after acquiring an additional 594,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 206.8% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $222,207,000 after acquiring an additional 590,235 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $245.57 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $166.92 and a 52 week high of $270.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $250.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $242.01. The company has a market cap of $143.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.85, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.91%.

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.