The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Todd Asset Management LLC

Todd Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 246,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,247 shares during the period. Progressive makes up approximately 1.4% of Todd Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Todd Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $59,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after purchasing an additional 315,411 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after purchasing an additional 170,618 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 7.0% during 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 valued at $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 21.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.12.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $272.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $159.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $186.94 and a one year high of $275.52. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.74.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.