Sepio Capital LP Reduces Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sepio Capital LP decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,612 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,290 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP's holdings in Progressive were worth $3,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $1.65 on Friday, hitting $274.83. 1,113,332 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,654,758. 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 company has a market cap of $161.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $271.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.07. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $281.59.

Insider Activity

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

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.