GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 57,466 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 402 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $13,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after buying an additional 315,411 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd 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 grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after acquiring an additional 170,618 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.0% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 21.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.71.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $248.99 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $179.90 and a one year high of $270.62. The company has a market cap of $145.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $245.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $245.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly 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, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % 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 corporate 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.