Tortoise Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Tortoise Investment Management LLC cut its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,622 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 961 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $7,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Progressive by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in Progressive by 90.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Progressive by 7.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Progressive by 2,262.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,990,000 after acquiring an additional 415,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its position in Progressive by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $14,102,075. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $279.77 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $254.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.81. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $194.49 and a 52 week high of $287.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $164.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.