Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Reduces Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,342 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 509 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $10,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Progressive by 10.8% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 18,371 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the third quarter worth approximately $244,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 121.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,016 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 392,382 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $99,000,000 after purchasing an additional 21,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth $235,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $273.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $248.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $250.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $186.94 and a 12 month high of $280.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the 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 represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.59.

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.