Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. Takes $737,000 Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,077 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $737,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after buying an additional 189,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,480,677,000 after acquiring an additional 710,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.65.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total value of $2,799,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,462,306.04. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $284.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $275.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.28. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

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.