Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Has $131.23 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 547,685 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,400 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $131,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in Progressive by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,239,143,000 after buying an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $408,416,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Progressive by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after acquiring an additional 583,376 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total transaction of $110,016.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,084.80. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,935,250. The trade was a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,749 shares of company stock valued at $11,786,613 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $265.26 on Wednesday. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $274.00 and a 200 day moving average of $257.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $155.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. UBS Group increased their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $320.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.76.

Progressive 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.