Marshall Wace LLP Sells 118,981 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Marshall Wace LLP lessened its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,536,177 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 118,981 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for about 0.4% of Marshall Wace LLP's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.26% of Progressive worth $368,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 53,591 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,841,000 after buying an additional 2,204 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $257,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,096 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,576,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 86,076 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $20,625,000 after purchasing an additional 12,351 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $142,324.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $969,024.07. This trade represents a 12.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $289.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.76.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock traded down $9.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $265.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,648,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,642,950. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $273.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $257.84. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

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.