Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 12,131 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 5.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 227,014 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $56,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,667,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,500,146,000 after acquiring an additional 151,240 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,513,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,128,055,000 after acquiring an additional 301,371 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,928,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709,417 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,156,939,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,129,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,101,883,000 after purchasing an additional 42,909 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total transaction of $302,131.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,924,379.20. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 9,103 shares of company stock worth $1,883,924 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $210.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $197.92 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $123.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $209.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.42.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $303.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $350.00 to $348.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $214.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. HSBC cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on Progressive in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $245.50.

Progressive Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.