Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 40.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,809 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Progressive by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $379,139,000 after buying an additional 641,943 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after buying an additional 594,330 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 206.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $222,207,000 after acquiring an additional 590,235 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $235.57 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $241.61. The firm has a market cap of $138.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $164.98 and a 1-year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.24.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.