Parnassus Investments LLC Trims Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Parnassus Investments LLC lowered its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 25.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 449,242 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 153,483 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC owned 0.08% of Progressive worth $107,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $379,139,000 after acquiring an additional 641,943 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 36,819.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,195 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $136,145,000 after acquiring an additional 566,656 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE PGR traded up $4.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $283.87. The stock had a trading volume of 2,223,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,388,837. The company has a market capitalization of $166.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $258.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $254.03. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $287.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. HSBC lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $281.76.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total value of $344,787.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 28,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,978,433. This represents a 4.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.