Ghe LLC Sells 973 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Ghe LLC decreased its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,415 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 973 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for 2.7% of Ghe LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Ghe LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $6,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after purchasing an additional 315,411 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 1.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after purchasing an additional 170,618 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.6 %

PGR opened at $265.99 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $246.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.35. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $186.94 and a 52 week high of $270.79. The stock has a market cap of $155.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.12.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.