Vise Technologies Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 125.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,461 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,153 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after purchasing an additional 593,612 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after purchasing an additional 78,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Progressive by 78.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Progressive by 26.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,757,905,000 after buying an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,836,094,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $204.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $119.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $283.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.37 earnings per share. Progressive’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays set a $247.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

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.