The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Position Increased by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 439,305 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,126 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.07% of Progressive worth $105,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PGR. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Progressive in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,506 shares of company stock valued at $10,531,159. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.65.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $238.58 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $243.55. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $175.50 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $139.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.91%.

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.