Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 619,493 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,492,350 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 619,493 shares during the period. Progressive makes up about 1.0% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,232,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 10,118 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,424,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in shares of Progressive by 727.8% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 16,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 14,651 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in Progressive by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 206,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $49,561,000 after purchasing an additional 65,109 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,498,363,000 after buying an additional 189,638 shares during the period. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 305.0% in the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 806 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,255 shares of company stock valued at $17,250,271. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $284.16 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $266.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $256.35. The company has a market cap of $166.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 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.