Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 72 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 129,010 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $32,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 278.1% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 484 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 324,645 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $67,432,000 after acquiring an additional 76,604 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,000. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 27.6% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,265 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 60.0% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 10,618 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,205,000 after purchasing an additional 3,980 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.24.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $235.57 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $251.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $241.37. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $164.98 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 $138.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.91%.

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.