Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Makes New $211,000 Investment in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,324 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 109.1% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $209.12 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $122.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $111.41 and a 52 week high of $212.24. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $198.74 and a 200 day moving average of $174.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. 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.