Aviva PLC Sells 396 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Aviva PLC decreased its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 352,849 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 396 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned about 0.06% of Progressive worth $84,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after acquiring an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,239,143,000 after buying an additional 2,085,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,951,899 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $946,915,000 after buying an additional 115,681 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.29.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $257.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $269.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $256.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $142,324.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,983 shares in the company, valued at $969,024.07. This trade represents a 12.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.