The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC decreased its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,125,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 624,441 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.70% of Progressive worth $988,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 90.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 84.3% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,531,000 after buying an additional 11,770 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake 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 valued at $103,990,000 after acquiring an additional 415,628 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $246.78 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $247.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $176.37 and a 52 week high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 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%. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.71.

Progressive Company 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.