New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 504,075 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 20,763 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of Progressive worth $120,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 20.9% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 16.5% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its position in shares of Progressive by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $263.59. 2,609,619 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,499,197. The stock has a market cap of $154.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $245.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.88. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $186.94 and a 12 month high of $270.62.

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 net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $275.88.

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.