Clearbridge Investments LLC Cuts Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 914,838 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 6,739 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.16% of Progressive worth $219,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 157,058 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,633,000 after buying an additional 14,061 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Joseph Group Capital Management raised its stake in Progressive by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 11,637 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,491,193 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $596,915,000 after purchasing an additional 35,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Progressive by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 918,230 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $220,017,000 after purchasing an additional 118,802 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,255 shares of company stock worth $17,250,271 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $2.91 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $281.38. 2,708,981 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,588,992. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $256.35. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The firm has a market cap of $164.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.78%.

About Progressive

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.