The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Holdings Decreased by Pinebridge Investments L.P.

Pinebridge Investments L.P. cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,260 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 52,731 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $31,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Alta Advisers Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 1,936 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Global Management UK Ltd acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $11,933,000. ClearAlpha Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $208,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 2,240,181 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $536,770,000 after buying an additional 6,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,469 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,665,000 after purchasing an additional 2,733 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,749 shares of company stock worth $11,786,613 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PGR. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $320.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.76.

Progressive Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of PGR opened at $265.26 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $155.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $274.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $257.97. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. 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.

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