The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Progressive were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Giverny Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.9% in the third quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 501,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $69,849,000 after purchasing an additional 14,022 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in shares of Progressive by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 155,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $21,651,000 after acquiring an additional 7,268 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of Progressive by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 168,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,788,000 after purchasing an additional 4,983 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $295,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $215.90 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $111.41 and a 1 year high of $217.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $205.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.74. The company has a market cap of $126.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.88.

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.