8,146 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR Purchased by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. bought a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 8,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,689,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,260,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Progressive by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,526,959 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,794,814,000 after buying an additional 656,249 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,025,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 19.2% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 86,011 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $18,789,000 after buying an additional 13,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 21.3% during the second quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 39,008 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,521,000 after buying an additional 6,844 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 17th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, October 15th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $216.00 price target (down from $221.00) on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $252.00 to $246.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Evercore set a $240.00 price objective on Progressive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.45.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.50, for a total value of $8,195,691.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 485,438 shares in the company, valued at $106,553,641. The trade was a 7.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,567 shares in the company, valued at $8,908,847.43. This represents a 14.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 48,352 shares of company stock valued at $10,524,258 over the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of PGR opened at $230.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.25. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $239.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $217.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Progressive Profile

Progressive Corporation is an insurance holding company headquartered in Mayfield Village, Ohio. Founded in 1937, the company provides insurance products primarily to consumers and businesses in the United States. Progressive distributes its products directly through its website, mobile channels and call centers, as well as through independent agents and brokers.

The company is best known for personal auto insurance, including coverage for cars, motorcycles, boats, recreational vehicles and other personal vehicles.