The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 23.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,109 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 10,978 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $8,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 90.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $103,990,000 after acquiring an additional 415,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total value of $110,016.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,370 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,084.80. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,255 shares of company stock valued at $16,877,471. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Up 0.8 %

PGR stock opened at $274.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $161.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $264.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.62. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

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.