The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,240,466 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 66,343 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $263,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 78.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,384,082,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 26.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,757,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 2,012.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 767,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,546,000 after buying an additional 731,207 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Progressive by 1,363.8% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 706,898 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $160,975,000 after acquiring an additional 658,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshfield Associates raised its position in shares of Progressive by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 1,577,453 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $389,552,000 after acquiring an additional 653,763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total value of $745,604.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,776. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $197.75 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $115.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.57 and a beta of 0.31. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.81. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $192.02 and a 12-month high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on PGR. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.39.

Progressive Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.