Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Has $113.26 Million Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 711,062 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,446 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned about 0.12% of Progressive worth $113,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment 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 MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $2.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $210.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,881,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,610,821. The company’s 50-day moving average is $201.66 and its 200 day moving average is $176.83. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $111.41 and a 12-month high of $216.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $123.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.35.

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. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

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

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.