Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Lowers Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,446,539 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 233,037 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for 0.9% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,000,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $3,628,000. TCW Group Inc. bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $1,988,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,090,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 66.4% in the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 2,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in shares of Progressive by 90.4% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 21,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,354,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 10th. HSBC upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.29.

Progressive Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $255.46 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $149.62 billion, a PE ratio of 26.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $229.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.06. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $134.34 and a 1 year high of $256.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 12.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total transaction of $639,920.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,453 shares in the company, valued at $6,808,963.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 146,704 shares of company stock worth $33,367,408. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.