Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 4,400 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lessened its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 547,685 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 4,400 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.09% of Progressive worth $131,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after buying an additional 189,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,843,045,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,521,545 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,323,018,000 after acquiring an additional 153,044 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,935,250. This represents a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value of $1,305,919.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. This represents a 23.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,749 shares of company stock worth $11,786,613 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on PGR. Bank of America boosted their price target on Progressive from $289.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.76.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $265.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $155.50 billion, a PE ratio of 18.42, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.97.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.70%.

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.

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