Carret Asset Management LLC Buys 3,300 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Progressive by 14.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after buying an additional 2,666,449 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 31.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $666,004,000 after buying an additional 1,154,591 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 102.9% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,131,601 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $296,932,000 after buying an additional 1,080,834 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Progressive by 10.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,916,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $963,463,000 after buying an additional 655,706 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $88,528,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Progressive Stock Down 0.9 %

Progressive stock traded down $1.82 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $212.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,632,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,620,038. The company has a market capitalization of $124.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $216.21. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.09%.

Progressive Company Profile

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.