HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Reduces Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,080 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 90.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares during the period. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.7 %

PGR stock opened at $279.54 on Friday. 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 Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $199.54 and a 1-year high of $287.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.68. The company has a market capitalization of $163.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.82.

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.