The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by Quadrature Capital Ltd

Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 183,192 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,284 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $29,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,466,781 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,197,629,000 after acquiring an additional 218,809 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after buying an additional 2,666,449 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,935,652 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,378,951,000 after buying an additional 520,742 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,078,831,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,982,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $833,410,000 after buying an additional 162,916 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total transaction of $2,546,584.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 312,958 shares in the company, valued at $63,978,003.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,818 shares of company stock worth $4,280,482 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $208.24 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $111.41 and a twelve month high of $217.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $279.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $216.81.

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.