Naples Money Management LLC Acquires New Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 13,585 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,164,000. Progressive makes up 2.0% of Naples Money Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $840,885,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $802,968,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Progressive by 14.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,666,449 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Progressive by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,721,345 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $871,826,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Progressive by 31.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $666,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,591 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following 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 is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR traded up $4.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $214.69. The company had a trading volume of 4,190,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,618,959. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $125.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $111.41 and a twelve month high of $215.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $199.28 and its 200-day moving average is $174.57.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, April 1st. TD Cowen started coverage on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.88.

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.