The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc lessened its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 125,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,968 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for about 1.2% of Vestcor Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Progressive were worth $35,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 39,285.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $862,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038,303 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after buying an additional 1,547,677 shares in the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 12,110.3% during the first quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $353,374,000 after buying an additional 1,238,402 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Progressive by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,433,722,000 after buying an additional 915,643 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Progressive by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,480,677,000 after acquiring an additional 710,684 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.54, for a total transaction of $313,633.18. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,523,669.16. The trade was a 4.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total transaction of $1,041,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,750,829.82. The trade was a 8.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,972 shares of company stock worth $9,078,681 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $241.54 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $262.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.37. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $208.13 and a 1-year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on PGR. Evercore ISI cut Progressive from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.88.

About Progressive

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.