Rhumbline Advisers Sells 28,079 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,109,337 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 28,079 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.19% of Progressive worth $265,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in Progressive by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,410,527 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $337,976,000 after acquiring an additional 200,787 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $333,000. Banque Pictet & Cie SA grew its position in Progressive by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 14,950 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 10,875 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,606,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, AMS Capital Ltda lifted its position in Progressive by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. AMS Capital Ltda now owns 47,645 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $11,416,000 after buying an additional 7,473 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $275.88.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock traded up $5.78 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $269.71. 3,223,067 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,521,833. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $186.94 and a one year high of $270.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $245.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $248.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.