Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Reduces Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP trimmed its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 450,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 261,918 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned 0.08% of Progressive worth $120,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,516,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,548,217,000 after acquiring an additional 493,332 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,513,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,128,055,000 after buying an additional 301,371 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 61.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,362,039,000 after buying an additional 3,174,632 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Progressive by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,338,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,828 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 6.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,380,134 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,805,642,000 after purchasing an additional 396,567 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Progressive from $312.00 to $301.38 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $261.00 to $232.00 in a report on Friday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $265.65.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $223.00 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $229.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $249.23. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $199.90 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $130.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total value of $1,555,052.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,679,806.24. This trade represents a 29.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $295,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 29,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,389,460. This trade represents a 4.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 51,782 shares of company stock valued at $12,708,788. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.