Pacer Advisors Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,845 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $11,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Progressive by 98.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 90.9% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in shares of Progressive by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,531,000 after acquiring an additional 11,770 shares during the period. Sycomore Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $1,286,036,000 after purchasing an additional 330,667 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,787 shares in the company, valued at $8,463,329.23. This represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,506 shares of company stock valued at $10,531,159 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.65.

Progressive Trading Down 0.8 %

PGR opened at $244.86 on Wednesday. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $175.50 and a one year high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $248.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $244.03.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.