The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 19.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,791,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 926,989 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Progressive were worth $908,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 158,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,152,000 after acquiring an additional 2,876 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 29.2% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,444 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,186 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,854,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $257.27 on Monday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The firm has a market cap of $150.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $269.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.73.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. StockNews.com cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $142,324.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,983 shares in the company, valued at $969,024.07. The trade was a 12.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total transaction of $2,759,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.