The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 576,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 54,054 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned 0.10% of Progressive worth $91,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Giverny Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 2.9% during the third quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 501,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $69,849,000 after purchasing an additional 14,022 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its holdings in Progressive by 3.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Progressive by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 210,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,522,000 after acquiring an additional 4,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $295,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,357,996.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total transaction of $1,525,567.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,357,996.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,825 shares of company stock valued at $3,337,741 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $244.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.19.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $203.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,721,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,403,198. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.41 and a fifty-two week high of $217.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.43 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

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.