Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 84,631 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,595,870 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 84,631 shares during the period. Progressive comprises 0.9% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.27% of Progressive worth $382,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,855 shares of company stock worth $16,767,455 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PGR. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of PGR stock traded up $1.21 on Monday, reaching $274.07. 2,553,247 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,433,885. The company has a 50-day moving average of $261.96 and a 200-day moving average of $255.01. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99. 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 company has a market cap of $160.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued 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%. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

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.