AIA Group Ltd Decreases Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

AIA Group Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,669 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 15,248 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Progressive were worth $32,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 583,376 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,263,763,000 after purchasing an additional 315,411 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,843,045,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,239,143,000 after buying an additional 2,085,833 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 258,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $21.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $265.98. 3,500,524 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,987,983. 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 Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $268.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $256.73. The firm has a market cap of $155.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several research reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America cut Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research note on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $280.29.

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.