The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Parnassus Investments LLC

Parnassus Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 25.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 449,242 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 153,483 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC owned 0.08% of Progressive worth $107,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in Progressive by 90.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 330,667 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in 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 worth $103,990,000 after buying an additional 415,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its position in Progressive by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after buying an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $279.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $257.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $253.68. The firm has a market cap of $163.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. 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 1 year low of $199.54 and a 1 year high of $287.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side 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 will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total value of $344,787.00. Following the sale, the executive now owns 28,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,978,433. The trade was a 4.14 % 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. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. 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. Barclays boosted their target price on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.82.

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.